Superheroes & Stories
by Jennyb793
Summary: When Camilla Young begins having strange dreams, she never imagines that any of them could be real. But when she is roped into staying with her Uncle Phil in New York for the summer and SHIELD takes an interest in her she starts to realize that her dreams may be more important than she thought. And what happens when one of the men from her dreams shows up in her life? LokiXOC
1. Prologue

It was the third time that week that I had dreamt of the golden city. It stretched out as far as I could see. Towers and palaces, a child's dream.

The dreams sometimes came in flashes. A king sitting on his thrown; two children, one whose hair was as golden as the palace walls, the other's as dark as night, playing in a court yard; then later two men standing side by side dressed in elaborate armor which I had never seen before.

At first this world had been peaceful, but even during that time I could feel something stirring underneath the surface. Something dark and restless. Tonight my dreams were as dark as that force I had felt before. The city was no longer golden, but dark and troubled. There was chaos, panic, and in the middle of it all was a man. The same dark haired man that I had seen before in my dreams.

He stood in a great chamber next to what looked like a tree of light. But although the tree glittered and shown like crystal I could sense that there was something wrong, as if it were hurting someone. What was going on? Why wouldn't he stop this? I opened my mouth to call out to him, when suddenly there was a shout.

"Loki!"

I turned at the same time as the dark haired man to see a figure in the doorway, his golden hair falling over his shoulders as his red cape billowed out behind him. Suddenly the images changed, coming to me again in flashes. The two men fought.

At first it appeared the one in the red did not wish to fight back but after the dark haired man goaded him he swung at him and the battle continued. Then everything came faster. A stone hammer; what appeared to be a million copies of the dark haired man, all laughing; a bridge which shimmered and then exploded before my eyes.

The two men were left hanging on the edge, the one in red holding on to a long staff which was all that was keeping the second man from falling. Another figure appeared but he made no move to help and before I knew it the dark haired man had let go and was falling. I cried out for someone to help him, but the other two didn't appear to hear me and I just stood there helplessly as he disappeared further into the abyss.

Then everything went black.

OoooooO

At first there was only darkness. I couldn't see a thing. But I could feel it. And I could hear someone. Or something. Something whispering the same word over and over again.

"Hello?" I called into the darkness but there was no answer, just the same whisper, low and harsh. Like a hiss.

Then suddenly it hit me. My name. Whatever was in that darkness was hissing my name over and over again.

"Camilla... Camilla..."

"Who's there? What do you want?"

My blood ran cold as an evil laugh echoed through the darkness.

"You, my dear. We want you."

There was a flash of bright blue light and then I was pushed backwards. I reached to catch myself but I was clawing at air. There was nothing to grab. And then I was falling.


	2. Chapter 1

"Look Cami I can fly!"

I looked up from my book and smiled as my little brother jumped from the couch, landing in a pile of pillows. He was wearing a small red cape and held a plastic shield in his hand which clinked as it bumped against the floor. The second he hit the cushion of the pillows he was up again, climbing back onto the couch.

"Hey!" I laughed, getting up from my place at the window and running over just in time to catch him. "Careful there little one. Even a super hero can bump his head."

"No I can't, cause I'm invisible!"

I laughed. "You mean invincible?"

"Yea, I'm invincible!"

I smiled and hugged him close. "Yes you are. Now why don't you run along and build a city with your blocks? Every superhero needs a city to protect right?"

I gently set him down but before I could go back to my book he grabbed my arm. "Cami, will you tell me a story?"

"A story," I said, pretending I had no idea what he was talking about. "What kind of story?"

"You know!" he said, dragging out the 'oh' sound in a child's whine. "The one about the golden city."

I felt my heart squeeze as I recalled the dream I had had the previous night. Usually these dreams were something fun, a source of inspiration for the stories I told Jacob, but today all I could hear was that hiss in my ear. _Camilla...Camilla..._

_ "_Camilla?" Jacob looked up at me with hopeful eyes. "Please?"

I opened my mouth to answer him but luckily we were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

"Hello?"

"Mommy!" Jacob rushed out of the room, all thoughts of a story forgotten. I sighed and followed him, watching as he launched himself into my step mom's arms. Sophia laughed.

"Well hello there!" She reached down, gathering him up into her arms then turned to me and smiled. "Did you have fun with your big sister?"

Jacob nodded. "She was just about to tell me a story."

_Great_. So much about forgotten.

"Oh yea?" Her eyes turned to me. "What kind of story?"

"Oh nothing." I said, quickly brushing it off. "Just something dad told me when I was a kid." I had no idea why I lied, but something told me that I didn't want anyone to know about my dreams. The palace, the bridge, that man... It just all seemed too real. As if I was seeing memories rather than a figment of my own imagination. But somehow I had a feeling anyone who claimed to have visited a magic world in their sleep would either be brushed off or sent to a mental hospital, so either way it was safer for me to keep my mouth shut.

"How was your day?" I asked, picking up a few of the bags that Sophia had set by the door and following her into the kitchen.

"Oh good," Sophia said, setting Jacob down so she could start to unload some of the groceries from her own bag. "Actually I talked to your uncle Phil today."

"Uncle Phil?" I paused in opening the fridge and turned, unsure of whether or not I had heard her right. I couldn't remember the last time that I had seen, or even spoken to, my mom's older brother. He had a job as a government agent that was so top secret not even his own family got to know where he was or what he was doing. The most we got each year was a Christmas card and a crisp twenty dollar bill for our birthdays. "What did he want?"

I didn't mean for the words to sound harsh but Sophia paused in putting away the food and turned to me. "Oh honey, please don't be angry at him. He really does his best. He wants to see you kids, he just-"

"Can't." I finished for her. I had heard the same speech about a hundred times. About how my uncle really was a good man and how we were the only family he had left since our grandparents had died and he had no children. But they were all just words to me. I didn't care what the government wanted him to do, how about the fact that I wanted to see my uncle once in a while? He was the only real link that I had to my mother since she- I shook my head. No. I couldn't think about that. I would not let myself willingly get dragged back into that pain.

"He actually talked to Jacob on the phone the other day too." Sophia continued, her words snapping me out of my daze.

"He did?"

She nodded. "He wanted to talk to you too but you weren't home. Jacob was so excited to hear from him, weren't you Jacob?"

Jacob looked up from where he was playing on the floor and nodded before going back to his blocks.

"Why did he call?" I asked.

"Does he need a reason to call his niece and nephew?"

I bit back a harsh _yes_ and shrugged instead.

Sofia sighed. "Well he called for your father but he seemed to get caught up in whatever Jacob was telling him. What were you two talking about Jake?"

We both looked down at him, but he was too busy constructing his little city to hear us.

I wasn't too concerned though. It had probably been something about Captain America or Iron Man. My little brother had always been so fascinated with super heroes but I was sure uncle Phil was just being polite by listening to him. My dad was the only one who I could think of that uncle Phil would actually need to talk to. As an astrophysicist, William Young was the kind of man that you read about in big name science magazines. He had spent his entire life studying the universe and was the reason that I often looked up at the sky each night searching for answers in the stars.

What was I looking at? What was out there? The world that I had dreamt about for the past few months? I started. Where had that come from? Just because my dreams were so vivid did not mean that they were real. The men that I dreamt about looked normal enough- aside from the armor that they wore- but the rest of that world couldn't possibly exist anywhere on Earth. There was no such thing as rainbow bridges and trees that pulsed with light. Those were just stories that I told Jacob.

"What did he want the second time he called? He knows dad works during the day."

"Oh it wasn't dad he wanted to talk to," Sophia said, "it was you."

"Me?"

"Yes. I was actually going to talk to you about that. He wants to know if you'll come visit him in New York."

"What?" Now I knew that I was hearing things. After all these years, why would my uncle suddenly want me to come visit him out of nowhere? "He was kidding right?"

"Camilla." Sophia shot me a look. "Can you at least pretend that you want to see your uncle?"

I bit my lip. The truth was that I did want to see him. He may have been absent for most of my life but he was the only one who had the answers to questions that I had been dying to ask. The problem was I was not sure that I was ready to ask them just yet. And what's more I wasn't ready to see him.

"I can't." I said. "I have school. I can't just pack up and leave for New York just because he asks."

It was a weak lie and Sophia called me out on it right away. "You'll be off for the summer in just a few weeks, I doubt it would kill you to spend part of the summer with your uncle. Especially when you haven't seen him in so long. I talked to your dad about it already and he thinks it's a great idea too. We can buy you plane tickets for the twelfth. How does three weeks sound?"

Three weeks. In New York. With an uncle that I hadn't seen or spoken to in over two years. "Yea." I said weakly. "Sounds great."


	3. Chapter 2

The flight from Chicago to New York took less than a couple hours, but it felt like longer. Rain for the first half, turbulence for the second, and all I could think about the entire way was how much I did not want to go. Most girls would have been thrilled to spend part of their summer in New York but I was not. I had just finished my second year of college and had planned to spend the summer with my best friend, Tess, not pretending to get to know an uncle that I hardly knew.

A voice overhead announced that we were getting ready to descend into New York and I sighed, relaxing my white knuckled grip on the seat. I hated flying. Ever since I was a kid I had always been uneasy on planes. Something about being that high up just made me nervous, so I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt the wheels of the plane bump against the runway.

The airport was crowded as I stepped off the plane and made my way towards the baggage claim. I stood there for a minute, my eyes scanning the track for my bag, when I realized that I had no idea where to look for my uncle. We hadn't even talked since my parents had decided I was coming to New York and I hadn't seen him in so long that I had no idea who I was even looking for.

"Great." I muttered to myself. I reached down, searching for my phone in my pocket, when I heard my name.

"Camilla?"

I turned to find a man standing behind me. He was older, maybe in his late forties or early fifties, and was wearing a dark gray business suit, perfectly ironed. At first I had no idea who he was, but then I saw his eyes. The same dark gray as my mom's.

"Uncle Phil."

He smiled and nodded. "It's nice to see you. You've certainly grown up."

It was such a typical relative line, but I knew he meant well so I forced a smile.

"Yea. It's good to see you."

We stood there awkwardly for a moment before he motioned to the track.

"Can I help you get your bags?"

"Oh. Sure." I nodded and pointed out which ones were mine as they came by. Once we had both of my bags I followed my uncle out the airport doors and into the parking garage where his black BMW waited for us.

"Wow." I breathed. Nice car. I guessed that when you worked for the government though, you got perks like that.

It only took us twenty minutes to reach Uncle Phil's apartment from the airport, but we rode most of the way in silence, each of us unsure of what to say. When we reached his apartment, he directed me to a bedroom and sat my bags down on the bed.

"Well, this is your room." He said.

I glanced around. It was nice, if a little plain. There was a large queen sized bed next to which sat a dark wooden dresser. Across from that was a plush armchair and I noticed a few doors, which I assumed lead to a closet and bathroom. As my eyes scanned the room they came to rest on the window and I smiled as I noticed that there was a sill inside with a cushion just wide enough for me to sit on.

Uncle Phil's eyes followed mine and for the first time since I had gotten there he genuinely smiled. "Your step mom told me you like to read so I thought you might enjoy that."

"I will." I said with a smile. Thank you!"

I turned to him but my eyes caught sight of something on the dresser and I felt my breath catch in my chest. Slowly I walked past him to pick up the single picture frame and examine it. It was a picture of a woman, young and beautiful, in her early twenties, with long auburn hair and dark gray eyes. The same eyes that matched mine and uncle Phil's.

"Is this mom?" I asked, and although my voice was hardly more than a whisper I knew he heard me.

"Yes." He said coming to stand beside me. "You look exactly like her."

I nodded weakly. That was what I had been told, although I could hardly remember her. I was no more than four when she left. My heart squeezed as I recalled all of those nights I had fallen asleep by the door, waiting for her to come home. Quickly I set the picture down and fiddled with my bracelet, avoiding uncle Phil's eyes.

After a minute he cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Well," he said, "It's late so I'll let you get to bed."

I decided not to point out that it was hardly eleven thirty but instead nodded, eager to be left alone.

"Okay."

"Tomorrow morning I was wondering if you might come with me," he said, "there is someone that I would like to introduce you to."

Me? I had no idea who he would want to introduce his twenty two year old niece to, but I knew that my parents really wanted me to attempt to fix my relationship with my uncle so I nodded.

"Sure. What time do you need me to be up?"

"We need to be there by eight…" He hesitated and I realized that he was unsure of how much time it would take for a young girl to get ready so I quickly cut in.

"Okay. I'll be ready by seven thirty then. Good night Uncle Phil."

He took that as his signal to leave and smiled weakly. "Goodnight Camilla."

OooooO

I spent about half an hour unpacking after uncle Phil left before changing into my pajamas and climbing into bed. Even after I had settled in though, sleep eluded me. Between the picture of my mom, the awkward reunion with my uncle and my strange dreams it was a wonder I was even able to think straight. I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, tracing pictures in the air with my finger and trying to count sheep but after about an hour I gave up and rolled out of bed. I didn't bother to turn on the lights, but instead looked around the room until the window seat caught my eye again.

Pulling a spare blanket off the end of the bed, I walked over and settled down on the cushion, pulling my legs up so I could rest my chin on my knees. I watched the cars pass by on the street below, mesmerized by the glow of the headlights. The scene below me looked almost dream-like and as time went by I felt myself being pulled further and further towards sleep. The last thing I remembered was thinking 'wow those lights glow exactly like the palace in my dreams' and then I was gone. . . .

OooooO

When I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. Everything was dark and the air around me was thick with smoke. I was surrounded by walls of jagged rock and I felt my breath catch in fear as I realized that wherever I was, it was not on Earth. The sky above me was scattered with stars a million times larger than they were in Chicago or New York.

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself and although I did not expect an answer I suddenly heard voices.

I quickly darted behind a jagged rock, ducking low and praying that I could not be seen. The voices drew closer and as they did I began to make out what they were saying.

"The time has come..." The voice was low, a jagged hiss, but somehow I felt like I had heard it before.

"Yes." Another voice said, this one a man's voice with a slight accent. British, I guessed. "Finally I will have the power that I desire and you will have access to every world."

The creature- as I was beginning to guess that whatever had spoken first was not human- laughed darkly. "At last. And the Chitauri will follow you in battle. Earth will easily fall."

Earth? What? I pushed myself up slightly so that I could try to see what was going on. I must have been dreaming. Dreaming...

My dream. Suddenly I knew where I had heard that voice before. That creature had been the same one that had hissed to me in my dream.

_We want you._

I gasped and the man's eyes shifted, locking with mine before I could duck back behind the rock. I froze, waiting for him to give me away, but he only studied me for a moment before returning to the conversation.

"Yes. Surely the mortals will be no match for our forces. But you must ensure that they are ready for I will not wait."

The creature hissed again, this time angrily. "We have been waiting for this day for longer than you, Asgardian. We are ready."

"Very well." The man nodded. "Then I must take time to prepare myself. Ensure your master that Earth will be ours very soon."

The creature smiled wide, revealing teeth that were as red as blood, then slinked away.

I fell back against the rock, my head spinning from confusion and fear. What on Earth had I just witnessed? I had no idea. But I did know one thing, wherever the hell I was, I had to get out of here. I pushed myself to my feet, ready to run, when I heard a voice.

"Who are you?"

I spun around, my dark grey eyes meeting a pair of blue ones. It was the man. He was tall with dark hair and wore an elaborate armored suit with a long green cape. Same as the man from my dreams about the golden palace. Oh my God.

I was so stunned to see him that I did not realize that I hadn't answered until he snapped at me again. "Can you not hear, mortal? Answer me!"

"Camilla." I gasped, taking a step back as if his voice actually had the power to push me.

The man's eyes narrowed. "You should not be here."

"Don't you think I know that? I have no idea how I got here. Where am I?"

He studied me again and I felt self conscious, as though he could see right through me.

"That is not important." He said. "Go now."

"Go?" I said. "Go whe-"

But before I even had time to finish my question he was in front of me, placing a hand on my arm and pushing me. As I stumbled back I felt the ground fall out from under me. I reached for him, trying to break my fall but he just watched as I fell, disappearing further and further into space.


	4. Chapter 3

I woke to the blare of my alarm to find my cheek pressed against the window. The blanket I had taken off the bed was wrapped around my legs and I found that trying to move was not much of an option. I reached down to try and untangle myself but my tugging only resulted in me tipping off the window seat and ending up in a heap on the floor. I gasped and winced as my elbow banged against the wall hard enough to bruise.

"Shit!" I swore, then paused, hoping that uncle Phil hadn't heard. The last thing I wanted was for him to come bursting in.

I sat there for a moment, rubbing my wound, when suddenly the dream came flying back to me. The strange planet, the hiss of that creature and finally the man that I had seen so often in my dreams. I tried to push it out of my mind but even as I got up and started to get ready, I still couldn't forget. I made my way to the bathroom and splashed my face with water, trying to snap myself out of it but every time I closed my eyes all I could see were his blue ones staring back at me.

Who was he? And why hadn't he given me away? I knew that it was just a dream but for a moment I let myself entertain the idea that it might have been real. If that was the case then why had he warned me to leave? I was obviously listening in on something that they did not want me to hear, so why didn't he hurt me? And the words he had used. _Mortal._ Was he insinuating that he wasn't one? He looked human enough to me. Aside from his incredible strength, I thought, looking down at my arm where he had shoved me.

There was no mark but I could feel it. As if his hand had shot an electric current through me. I stood there for a moment, studying my arm, when suddenly there was a knock on my door.

"Camilla?"

"Shit." Rushing out of the bathroom I glanced at the clock. _7:30. _Damn the man was punctual. And I guessed that meant that I was late. Well at least some things never changed. I guessed I should have mentioned that. Grabbing the first thing I saw out of my dresser I pulled on some jeans and shoved my arms through a shirt before quickly turning to survey myself in the mirror. My hair fell like copper over my shoulders, still straight from the day before, and the jeans fit nicely with the blue of my V-neck shirt bringing out the flecks of dark blue in my eyes. Perfect.

"Coming!" I called. I reached for the doorknob. I opened the door and jumped back slightly in surprise to find uncle Phil was already standing outside of it, his hand raised as if he was about to knock again.

"Oh." I said. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Camilla."

"I'm sorry I'm late." I smiled sheepishly. "I'm ready to go now though." I held up my purse as proof and uncle Phil nodded.

"Um are you hungry?" He asked awkwardly and I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine. I have a granola bar in my purse if I need anything." The truth was I was hungry, I just wanted to leave so we could get this over with. I didn't even know where we were going and only when we were in the car and on the freeway did it occur to me to ask.

"Um uncle Phil? Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you."

I blinked, unsure if I had heard him right. "Um…"

"What I mean," he said, clearing his throat in embarrassment, "is that I can't tell you the exact location that we are going to. But I am taking you to the place I work."

"The place you work." Now I was sure I had heard him wrong. After all these years of secrecy, of not even being able to tell us where he was or much less what he did, why would uncle Phil suddenly want to bring me with him? Somehow I doubted the government had bring-your-kids-to-work days.

He didn't reply, either totally oblivious to my tone or just choosing to ignore it. Either way I wasn't getting any answers. We were silent for about ten minutes before I started to recognize where we were.

"Um, isn't this the way to the airport?"

"Yes. It is."

"Why are we going to the airport?" I asked, craning my neck as if there was something out the window that I was missing which could tell me where we were going.

"We need the private jet to fly to New Mexico."

I don't know which threw me off more, the fact that he had a private jet or that I was going to have to fly again. Then the rest of his sentence sunk in.

"New Mexico?" I stared, waiting for him to say he was kidding but his face remained blank. The man didn't even live in the same state that he worked in? What the hell did the government have him doing? I wanted to ask more questions but I knew that they wouldn't get answered, so I just zipped my mouth and instead busied myself with worrying about how in the world I was going to survive another flight.


	5. Author's Note

Hey guys, I am not quite sure how to post author comments above my story yet (I'm a newbie- if anyone could comment & let me know that would be awesome) so I'm just going to make one here. Sorry if you thought it was another chapter, I promise I am working on it and will post more soon! I'm really glad that people like the story, now as I start to get closer to writing in Loki (Eeep! I am so excited for this part, cause I know we all want to see him ;)) I want your guys' opinions. Please comment and let me know if you want him to have some redeeming qualities or if you want me to stick more to his evil side. Either way I am not going to make him too sappy and nice but if you guys want I will make Camilla feel for him. Just comment & let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 4

I had never been to New Mexico. Truth was I had never been anywhere further west of Chicago than St. Louis so I was not prepared for the wave of heat that hit my face as I stepped off the plane. I gasped and coughed as particles of sand stuck to my tongue. It felt as if I had been hit in the face by a hair dryer set on high.

When I finally had a chance to look around, I felt my breath catch in my chest. We were in the middle of a desert. Literally in the middle of a desert. Sand and rock were all around us and stretched out as far as I could see. I was standing on a concrete airstrip, but aside from that the only thing that I could see was a small group of lights in the distance.

Uncle Phil shouted something to the pilot over the whir of the plane engine and a second later he was standing next to me.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Go?" I asked. "Go where?"

Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth I heard the sound of an engine and an army jeep appeared out of nowhere. It pulled up next to us and the driver leaned out the window, addressing my uncle. "Agent Coulson."

Uncle Phil nodded. "Agent Jameson. Thank you for coming. This is my niece, Camilla Young."

The man nodded and smiled. "Nice to meet you Ms. Young. Hop in."

I glanced at my uncle but he nodded and held the door open for me so I could climb in. Then he took a seat in the passenger side and we were off.

The ride took about thirty minutes but by the time we reached our destination I was sure that I had more bruises just from the way the car jolted and bumped along the dirt road. After a while the jeep slowly came to a stop and I pressed my face against the glass of the window to try and see what was going on. We had reached what looked like a military base- that must have been the lights that I had seen in the distance- which was surrounded by a giant fence. The top of the fence was laced with barbed wire and I had no doubt that if I rolled down my window I would be able to hear the buzz that warned that it was electric as well.

The only way in and out of the base was through a gate that was guarded on both sides by men with giant guns (I was not an expert in weaponry but one look at them told me that the guys were certainly not holding just machine guns) as well as an armored guard hut. Agent Jameson rolled down his window as he pulled up and flashed an i.d. at the guard who nodded and peered through the window.

"And who do you have with you Agent Jameson?"

"Agent Coulson." The man answered. "And his niece. He and I both grant her clearance."

The guard nodded and pressed a button opening the gate just wide enough so we could drive through. Once we were onto the base I was able to roll down my window a bit and look around. There were dozens of buildings, all connected by winding roads. There were also men and women everywhere. Driving giant armored trucks, talking into hand held phones or running back and forth, clip boards in hand.

I quickly rolled back up the window as we pulled up to one of the buildings and a second later Agent Jameson was there opening my door.

"Ms. Young." He nodded his head politely and I smiled, thanking him quietly. Then I went to join uncle Phil who had exited the car as well and was standing by the sidewalk a few feet away.

Once he saw that I was with him, he tilted his head and turned, motioning for me to follow him. We entered one of the buildings and I was able to catch the words on one of the signs as we entered: _Joint Dark Energy Western Division. _

Dark Energy? What on Earth had I gotten myself into?

There was a woman at the front desk who uncle Phil addressed as we entered the lobby. I didn't hear what he said, but she nodded and pulled open one of the drawers of her desk and handed him a file.

"What's that?" I asked, but he didn't answer, instead motioning again for me to follow him through double doors off to our right. This lead to a narrow hallway lined with doors and uncle Phil walked about half way down before opening one and gesturing for me to go inside.

This room appeared to be an office with several plush chairs situated in front of a large wooden desk. Uncle Phil made his way around the desk and I hesitated slightly before settling down into one of the chairs.

He took a minute, opening the file and looking through a few papers before he turned to me.

"Camilla."

I didn't say anything. Just waited for him to tell me what was going on.

"I said that I wanted to introduce you to someone. But first I think you should know a bit about what is going on."

"But, why?"

I couldn't help it. The words just slipped from my mouth as if I had no control over them.

"What I mean," I quickly said, "is why me? Why did you bring me here and more importantly, why are you willing to tell me anything? I haven't seen you in years and suddenly you whisk me off to some top-secret military base? Why? What do I have to offer? I'm not my dad. He's the one you should be talking to, whatever you need."

Uncle Phil didn't interrupt; just let me go on my little rant until I had nothing more to say. Then he nodded.

"I can understand why you might be confused but I'm here to tell you-"

He opened his mouth to explain and that's when the alarms sounded.

**Almost done with all of the set up! The next chapter should be able to pick up where the Avengers movie starts. And we will be seeing Loki very soon. Be sure to review and tell me how you want him portrayed so I can start writing those chapters. Really just review for anything because I get really excited when I see someone commented lol **


	7. Chapter 5

Immediately I jumped to my feet and uncle Phil was beside me in a second.

"What is that?" I said, shouting to be heard over the blare of the sirens.

Uncle Phil didn't answer but I could tell by the look on his face that he knew exactly what this meant. Reaching into his pocket he grabbed his cell phone and dialed furiously.

"Hello. This is Agent Coulson. We have a code four. Begin evacuations. And get me Director Fury and Agent Hill immediately."

His voice was level and surprisingly calm given the fact that he had just issued an evacuation of the base. Flipping the phone closed he grabbed my arm and steered me towards the door.

"We need to go now." He said firmly.

"Where are we going?" I asked and for the first time since I had started asking questions I actually got an answer.

"To see Erik Selvig."

"Selvig." I had heard the name. "Wasn't he the man involved in that incident in New Mexico?" I thought I had read something about him in the newspaper a few months before and I also remembered my father mentioning him since Selvig was a brilliant astrophysicist himself.

Something flashed in my uncle's eyes. "How do you know about the incident in New Mexico?"

"A small town was leveled." I said flatly. "It's kind of a hard thing to hide."

"Yet the government did." Uncle Phil stopped walking, studying me suspiciously. "No one knows about that except the members of that town. And they were sworn to secrecy."

I paused, my blood suddenly running cold as I realized that he was right. I hadn't heard about that on the news. So that only left one other place that I could have seen it. Oh God. So some of my dreams were real. And if that one had been true then did that mean…? I felt myself growing dizzy but somehow I managed to squeeze out some words to form a lie.

"My dad. He knows Erik Selvig through some colleagues of his. I must have overheard him talking about it."

It was a terrible lie, per usual, and though uncle Phil looked like he wanted to question me further I could practically see it in his eyes as he pushed away the idea.

"We need to hurry." He said and I realized that somehow in our conversation I had almost forgotten that the sirens were going off. I nodded, glad to have something to distract us from the subject of my dreams and quickly followed him as he lead me further down the hall and down a flight of stairs, deep into the heart of the base.

As we went deeper and deeper I noticed more and more guards. What would the government keep down here that they had to keep so heavily guarded? I was about to ask my uncle the same thing when a man stopped us.

"Agent Coulson." He said. "How can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Dr. Selvig."

The man shook his head. "I am afraid Dr. Selvig is highly busy at the moment."

"Do you know the details of the situation?"

The man shook his head. "No sir. Only that the Tesseract is misbehaving."

"That was what I was afraid of. See to it that you and your men start evacuations immediately."

The guard nodded and uncle Phil grabbed my arm again, leading me off, only this time in a different direction.

"I thought we were going to see Erik Selvig?"

"Change of plans." He said. "Right now our top priority is evacuation. I need to notify Director Fury of the current situation. Looks like you will be meeting him even sooner than I planned."

Dr. Fury. I searched my mind for the name but it didn't sound familiar from either the real world or my dreams. Who could this man be? I figured that I would find out soon enough.

I followed Uncle Phil outside once again and over to a small landing strip where we arrived just in time to see a helicopter landing. The door of the helicopter slid open and a woman climbed out, quickly followed by a man. He was tall and as he paused to look around and brush his trench coat to the side I noticed that he had an eye patch covering his left eye.

He turned to my uncle. "How bad is it?"

"That's the problem sir, we don't know."

The man didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes grew serious and his lips tightened into a thin line. "I was afraid this would happen."

"You knew this would happen?" A hand flew to my mouth. Damn it! Why could I not control what I was saying today? I didn't even know what was going on.

The man's eyes- or rather _eye- _turned to me instantly.

"Who is this?" He asked, eyeing my warily.

"This is my niece, Camilla Young." Phil explained. "I thought she might be of use to the operation."

"And why would that be?" the man asked. He surveyed me up and down, his one good eye narrowing suspiciously.

"Sir she is the one who I told you about, the one who has been having those dreams."

_Dreams._ I felt myself shudder as I recalled the previous night. How could he know about my- _Jacob._ Of course. He was the only one who I had ever told my dreams to. But they were only bedtime stories, something to keep my little brother's imagination alive. Surely they didn't mean anything.

"Um excuse me." I said, interrupting the two men. "But does anyone want to tell me what I am doing here? What do my dreams have to do with anything?"

Phil turned and motioned to the two individuals beside him. "Camilla this is Director Fury and Agent Maria Hill. I believe that you could be of help to them."

"Well we'll see about that." Director Fury said. Then he turned his attention back to my uncle. "Let's see what the damage is."

And with that the three of them turned and took off towards one of the buildings leaving me to run to catch up.


	8. Chapter 6

This time we took an armored elevator deep underground. Phil and Director Fury continued to talk about something called the Tesseract. They completely ignored me, which was fine since it gave me time to try and figure out what was going on. From what I could gather this Tesseract was a source of energy, something that Dr. Selvig had been testing. But it was out of control. It had turned itself on and whatever that meant it was dangerous because the entire base had to be evacuated.

After explaining the situation, uncle Phil turned to go lead the evacuation team. I went to follow him, but a voice stopped me.

"Ms. Young."

I turned in surprise to find Director Fury addressing me.

"We are going to need you to come with us."

"What?"

"If what you saw in your dreams is true then you may actually be of use to us."

_Gee thanks_. I thought drily. That didn't make me feel like I was just a piece in a chess game or anything. For a moment I thought about saying no. Whatever was going on here, I had a feeling that I did not want to get wrapped up in it. But if there was even a chance that someone could explain my dreams to me then shouldn't I take it?

"Alright." I said after a moment. "Fine. I'll help."

I glanced at my uncle but he nodded. "It's fine. Go with them, Camilla. I have to lead the evacuations but just stay with Director Fury and I will meet up with you later."

I nodded before following Director Fury & Agent Hill back in the direction that we were headed.

The second that uncle Phil was gone, Agent Hill turned to Director Fury. "Sir evacuation may be futile."

Fury didn't even glance over his shoulder as the three of us descended down a flight of stairs. "We should tell them to go back to sleep?"

"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy then there may not be a minimum safe distance." Agent Hill continued to warn him but Director Fury went on talking, completely ignoring her. And me for that matter. Was there even a reason I was there? Cause I wasn't seeing it yet.

"I need you to make sure the phase two prototypes are shipped out."

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Agent Hill's voice was even but there was a forced politeness to it and I could tell that was the closest she ever got to outright defying Fury. So this was how the government worked. I snorted but neither of them even glanced at me.

"Until such time as the world ends we will act as though it intends to spin on."

That time I really did laugh. I couldn't help it. Aside from his serious face Director Fury could have been reading a line out of the script for some super hero movie.

Fury shot me a look, then he turned as if to walk away. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on the truck and gone."

"Yes sir." Agent Hill said, then motioning to a few of the guards she was gone.

_And then there were two._

I glanced at Director Fury to see what we were going to do but he was already walking away.

"Hey!" I called, running to catch up with him. Did no one remember I was here? They had asked me to come with for God's sake! Why would they ask for my help and then just completely blow me off like that? I opened my mouth to tell Fury all of this but got one good look at the room we had just entered and felt my jaw snap shut.

The room looked like a giant cavern with tall stonewalls that reached over fifty feet up to a domed ceiling. The size of the room itself was enough to impress me, but it was more than that. Every corner of the room was filled with pieces of technology. I recognized some of the machines from trips to my dad's lab, but others looked so complicated that I couldn't even begin to guess what they were used for.

I glanced around, looking for Director Fury and found him across the room discussing something with Dr. Selvig.

I caught some of what they were saying as I walked up, the words 'misbehaving' and 'gamma radiation,' but just as I was about to cut in, Fury turned to me.

"Dr. Selvig this is Camilla Young, Agent Coulson's niece."

"Young. Yes," Dr. Selvig nodded. "I've heard of your father, William Young. Brilliant man. Great work in the field of-"

"Dr. Selvig." Fury cut in, his voice hinting that this was really not the time. "Where is Agent Barton."

Agent Barton. I recognized the name too. "Hawkeye?"

Both men turned to me, startled, and I realized that it was the first time I had spoken.

"How do you know about that?" Dr. Selvig asked, his eyes widening.

"I-"

"Ms. Young can explain everything." Director Fury said shortly then he walked away, probably to find Hawkeye.

Once we were alone, I explained everything. All of my dreams. From the one in New Mexico to the strange world with those two men. The only thing that I left out was my most recent dream. So far no one knew about that and yet somehow it was the one that disturbed me the most. No one had ever addressed me in my dreams and I felt like there was something significant about the fact that he finally had. That man from the golden city. The one with the piercing blue eyes.

When I was all done, Dr. Selvig just stared at me. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Um, no." I said. "I was hoping you could tell me."

He nodded and opened his mouth to explain when suddenly there was a crash from across the room. Everyone froze and turned to find the Tesseract sizzling with energy.

"Oh boy." I said. Even if I knew nothing about the Tesseract, I knew this was not good. Almost on cue the ground began to shake.

Grabbing my arm, Dr. Selvig pulled me behind some of the equipment, just as the Tesseract shot out a beam of light and the whole room exploded with energy. I gasped as the shock wave knocked me back a few steps, but was able to grab on to one of the carts at the last second and steady myself. After the shock had passed I looked back towards the cube, wondering what the hell had just happened.

About forty feet in front of the Tesseract sat an elevated platform. It had been empty when I walked in the room, but now as I squinted through the mist I saw a figure bent over and smoking from the energy of the cube.

"Oh God." I whispered and this time there really was fear in my voice. Because although I had no idea what was going on, I had a feeling I would not like what was coming next.

**Finally Loki! Sorry it took me a little longer to put up this chapter! Since I am into the actual movie now I am trying to use direct quotations as much as possible so I literally have to go back and watch clips to get the wording down. Which means I am basically watching the movie over and over again (not that that's a problem since I've seen Avengers six times….believe me I am judged for it but it's worth it). I am doing my best though and promise to get chapters up as soon as I can. **


	9. Chapter 7

The guards didn't even wait for the smoke to clear before they started making their way slowly towards the platform, guns raised. As they walked towards it the figure slowly straightened up and I saw it was a man. His dark hair was longer and he wasn't wearing the same cape and armor but one look at his blue eyes and I knew who it was.

"Oh my God. . . ."

"Sir," Director Fury called, "please put down the spear!"

I had no idea what he was talking about at first, but then I noticed that the man was holding a long staff. It was gold, with a stone at the end that glowed bright blue, illuminating the sharp point of the tip. I vaguely remembered it from my dreams and I didn't have to look too hard to recognize that it was dangerous.

The man looked down for a moment, almost as if he had forgotten he was holding it, then he drew back his arm and a bright blue beam shot out of the staff destroying a piece of equipment and sending half of the guards flying.

I gasped, ducking behind the piece of equipment I was standing by and keeping my head low. I couldn't see what was going on but I heard shouts followed by the sound of gunfire. One of the guards cried out and I peeked around the cart just in time to see someone thrown across the room and hear the sickening crack as he connected with the wall and then slumped to the floor.

I held a hand to my mouth to keep myself from crying out as I surveyed the scene. People lay everywhere. Thrown across the ground from the fight. The man was no longer on the platform, but was across the room standing in front of Hawkeye. His staff was pressed against the agent's heart and I watched in horror as some sort of blue light flowed into him, crawling up his neck before finally settling in his eyes. The man watched for a minute, almost as if waiting for something, then smiled as Hawkeye put his gun away. What was going on?

I watched as the man did the same thing to a few of the remaining guards- the ones that weren't littered across the floor like broken rag dolls- putting them under some sort of spell. I was so busy watching the man that I didn't notice Fury tucking away the Tesseract until someone spoke.

"Please don't." The clip of his British accent just confirmed that this was the man from my dreams. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury said, an attempt to calm the situation.

But the man just smiled. "Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else."

No kidding. I thought as I recalled the strange world from my dream. But something told me he wasn't just talking about distance.

"I am Loki," he continued, "of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki." Dr. Selvig said straightening up from where he had been checking on an injured lab technician, "Brother of Thor."

_Loki._ The color drained from my face as I realized that the name matched that of the man in my dream. Oh my God. I stepped back, trying to hide myself further behind the equipment but in my hurry I bumped into a cart behind me and it crashed to the floor.

Everyone's heads snapped towards me and I felt my heart sink.

"You." Loki's eyes narrowed as he recognized me. Ignoring the two men he turned and in just three long strides was in front of me. "What on Earth..."

I ducked my head, trying to avoid his eyes but something sharp grazed my chin and I felt my face being tilted up by the tip of the staff. I started to step back but he grabbed my wrist, holding me in place.

"What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer, but as I tried to pull my arm away I felt his grip tighten.

"Did you not hear me?"

I gasped as his nails dug into me, once vaguely realizing that he had asked me almost the same question the night before.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He smirked. "I would ask you the same question. How did you get here?"

"Magic." I spat through clenched teeth, feeling anger bubble up inside of me. How could he just come in here, kill all of these innocent people and then talk to me as if nothing I was nothing more than a bug under his foot? I didn't care who this man was, I would not be talked down to.

Loki chuckled and opened his mouth to say something, but Fury cut him off.

"We have no quarrel with your people."

Loki glanced up, almost as if he had forgotten that Fury was there. Then his face relaxed into a calm expression.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

Fury tilted his head, his eye narrowing. "Are you planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings. Of a world made free."

"Free from what?" I demanded and Loki turned to me, his smile widening.

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart-" he paused, turning so abruptly that I almost fell as his grip pulled me with him. He placed the tip of the spear on Dr. Selvig's heart and the man shuttered as the light overtook his eyes.

"No!" I gasped but Loki ignored me.

"-you will know peace."

"Yea you say peace." Fury said. "I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling." Hawkeye said, making his way across the room to stand next to Loki and me. "This place is about to blow, drop a couple hundred feet of rock on us."

He glanced up and I followed his gaze to see that the portal from which Loki had come was still open above us, a pulsing mass of light.

"He means to bury us."

Fury smiled. "Like the pharaohs of old."

"He's right." Dr. Selvig confirmed, examining the data on one of the pieces of equipment. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We have maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well then." Loki turned to Hawkeye and before I could even flinch the man brought up a gun and shot Director Fury.

I screamed as Fury crumpled to the ground.

"We must go now." Loki said. "But first-"

He turned towards me and I knew in a second what he was going to do. I fought his grip but even as I struggled he was lifting up his staff, placing the tip of it squarely over my heart. I gasped as an icy chill spread through me, radiating from the point where the tip met my skin, but even as I waited for the light to overtake me, I realized something. Nothing was happening. Aside from the chill there was nothing different. My eyes didn't change and I was under no spell.

Loki's eyes widened and for the first time since he had entered the room he looked genuinely surprised. "What?"

He tried again, touching the staff to my chest but again nothing happened. I struggled, trying again to get away from him, but although he was distracted, his grip remained firm.

"Well." He said, studying me for a moment. "Guess you are coming with us anyway."

"What?" I gasped, the words only sinking in as he began to drag me away. "No!"

I twisted and tugged, bashing at him with my fist but it was no use. If bullets had not worked on this man- if he even was a man- then I doubted my strength alone would. But I still tried, using all of my strength and only pausing when his next words made my blood run cold.

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you." He said. "It's no use."

And I felt my heart sank as I realized that the words he said were probably true.


	10. Chapter 8

**I feel like I should make a disclaimer. I don't own any of the characters in this story other than Camilla and her family. The Avengers characters are the property of Marvel and I am thankful to be able to use them for the time being.**

Even though I knew it was pointless, I still continued to fight Loki as he pulled me from the room. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to break free of his grip- he was every bit as strong as I remembered from my dream- but I did everything I could to slow them down. I pulled, rocking back on my heels every so often and when that didn't work I tried falling all together. The first few times were a bit successful, slowing the men down by a few steps, but eventually Loki caught on and simply tightened his grip until I could practically see the bruise on my arm. It was when I stumbled and fell though-on purpose of course- that he really snapped. Switching his grip from my arm to the front of my shirt, he yanked me up so hard that the fabric cut into my throat, momentarily choking me. Then he leaned in close so his face was just inches from mine and I could see the anger burning in his eyes.

"Do that again," he said, "and I will ensure that you are dragged along the ground this entire journey."

Journey? I felt myself freeze again. I had known that Loki was taking me away, but where to? Was it really that far? As if to answer my thoughts, we entered a loading dock and Hawkeye pointed to a few of the military issued vehicles.

"We need these vehicles."

At first I was confused, but when I saw who he was addressing I felt my heart jump. It was Agent Hill. I opened my mouth to shout to her, but suddenly felt as if all of the wind had been knocked from my chest. I gasped and turned to see Loki muttering something under his breath and smiling as he watched me struggle. I opened my mouth again but when I tried to call out to Agent Hill, nothing came out. My eyes widened which only caused Loki's smile to turn into a satisfied smirk.

"What's the matter, love?" he asked mockingly. "Run out of things to say?" He grabbed my arm again, shoving me as harshly as he could without attracting attention and directing us both past Agent Hill.

"Who's that?" she asked, studying Loki curiously as he settled down in the bed of the truck, pulling me down next to him.

"He didn't tell me yet." Hawkeye threw over his shoulder as he made his way to the truck. I waited for Agent Hill to object, to ask more questions, anything, but she just turned her back and started to walk away. I tried my voice again but still nothing came out. Loki grinned and gripped my arm tighter in triumph, when there was a crackling sound.

"Anyone. Do you copy?"

Agent Hill glanced down at her radio just as I pushed as hard as I could and forced my voice to out.

"Help!"  
Agent Hill glanced up and had just enough time to make eye contact with me before she had to dive to the side to avoid Hawkeye's gunfire. She rolled behind some crates but even as she pulled up her gun to fire back we were already moving. Hawkeye dove into the front seat slamming on the gas and I fell back against Loki as we peeled out of the loading area.

Agent Hill fired her pistol in an attempt to stop us but she was only able to get in a few shots before we disappeared up one of the ramps. I clung tight to the side of the car, trying not to fall off as we sped through the tunnel. There were other people on the base, surely someone would hear the gunfire and come. A second later my thoughts were confirmed as several cars appeared out of nowhere, lights flashing. I smiled and turned to Loki but to my surprise he didn't look too concerned. Raising himself to a crouched position he held up his staff and though I knew what he was about to do, I was a second too late. My hand missed his staff as he shot a beam of light, which hit one of the cars and sent it flying across the tunnel. I watched as it flipped over and came skidding to a halt, blocking the rest of the cruisers from following us.

Okay, someone needed to take that thing away from him. I reached towards Loki, intent on knocking the staff out of his hand, but I was distracted by the sound of tires screeching, followed by gunfire. I gasped, ducking as bullets shot past my head. Then I turned to see another car, this one in front of us. It was Agent Hill. She had gotten a hold of one of the jeeps and had spun it around so it was facing the car we were in, both slowing us down and allowing her to more easily shoot at us. Unfortunately Hawkeye was shooting back.

The car lurched as he spun to the right, knocking Agent Hill's jeep out of the way, forcing her to follow behind us. And that's when the tunnel started collapsing.

I gasped as I heard a loud crash- what I could only imagine was the portal collapsing in on itself like the men had warned- and pieces of the ceiling started raining down on us. Loki didn't seem too concerned about this either, but I ducked, covering my head with both hands to protect myself. I felt a sharp pain on my hand and gasped, lifting my head. A large shard of debris sat next to me on the truck bed but before I could get a chance to figure out what had happened I was distracted as the roof caved in, and I watched as Agent Hill's car was trapped in the rubble.

Our car appeared undamaged however and I glanced around as we sped through the base. There were no patches of grass for me to land on if I jumped and we were only picking up speed as we exited the gates. I was so distracted trying to figure out a way off the truck that I almost didn't notice the helicopter until the car swerved to the left and off the paved road.

The car jolted and I would have fallen had Loki not reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back. Unfortunately I was not safe though as another round of bullets rained down on us. I glanced up to find the shots came from Fury who was leaning out the door of the helicopter, pistol in hand. When he saw me, his eye widened and it distracted him just long enough for Loki to shoot a beam of light setting the tail of the helicopter on fire. I gasped as I watched it fall from the sky, before hitting the ground with a crash.

"No!"

Loki laughed and I felt the sound vibrate through me and he pulled me closer so I couldn't struggle. Then I watched as the wreckage became just a dot in the distance as we went speeding into the desert.

**Ooo more Loki magic :) Sorry this chapter did not have a lot of action from Camilla. I wanted it to feel fast pace- like it does in the movie- and I also wanted to show how she is so thrown off by what she has just learned (that this incredibly attractive man from her dreams is in fact real…. and slightly insane) and is just trying to figure out what to do and what the hell is going on. **

**Also I will be in Virginia for most of next week so I may not be able to write as much :( but hopefully I will come back brimming with ideas. Until then keep commenting and let me know if there's something you want to see! **


	11. Chapter 9

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Just got back from Virginia & I was having some major writers block :p (go figure right?) This part is also a little harder because there is not much in the movie to show where Loki was while the Avengers were assembling, but I'll do my best :) Also, someone suggested that I make the chapters longer and I agree that that is a good idea so I am going to start writing more. Can't wait to get back to more Loki! **

I had no idea how Hawkeye knew where to go, but we drove on for hours before finally reaching our destination. By then my hand was bleeding pretty heavily and I was almost too busy with that to notice where we were. I didn't have any type of cloth, so I had tugged on the end of my shirt and wrapped it around my hand to try and stop the bleeding.

The car jolted, bouncing as we bumped down a ramp and I gasped and then hissed in pain as my hand bumped the side of the truck bed. Loki glanced at me in disgust, as if it were my own fault that I was hurt.

"You're bleeding everywhere."

"Yea no shit!" I snapped, glaring at him.

I tried unwrapping my hand, but as soon as I moved my shirt a sting of pain shot straight up to my wrist, and I winced and closed my eyes for a moment, gritting my teeth.

The truck bed shifted a bit and I opened my eyes to see that Loki had gotten down without so much as a glance in my direction. I glanced down as my hand, unsure of what to do. I was crouched in the back of the truck, one hand bleeding and the other busy clutching my shirt to the wound, so I had no way to push myself up and get to the ground.

"Um, hello," I snapped at Loki, "A little help."

The words came out a little dejected since I did not want to ask him for help, but I figured my choice was either that or sit in the truck forever. He stopped momentarily and shot an irritated look over his shoulder. Then he turned his head towards some of the guards and a second later I was being lifted off my feet.

I gasped and struggled as the men yanked me off the truck, but even as I flailed they kept firm holds on my arm.

"Hey! Not like that, let me go!"

But the men ignored me, not stopping until they had dragged me across the room and I was right in front of Loki.

I continued to pull and fight but none of the men moved, just stared, waiting for me to give up. Finally I dropped my arms and stared up at Loki.

"What do you want with me?" I gasped, but he didn't even look fazed. He just stared at me coolly as if my tantrum were boring him.

"You'll see soon enough."

His gaze shifted and he turned his attention to the guards. "Take her to the main room and ensure that at least one of you is with her at all times."

"And you." He said, his eyes boring into mine. "If you so much as try to run, I will ensure that you regret it."

"Oh I'm sure." I said through gritted teeth. "What can you do? You've already kidnapped me."

Loki just blinked. "You have a family do you not? Loved ones?"

I froze and immediately regretted it as I realized that I had just confirmed his guess.

He laughed darkly and nodded. "As I thought. You Midgardians always choose to form attachments to one another. Even when those attachments are constantly used against you. How… unwise."

I grit my teeth and glared at him, wishing that there was some way I could break away from the guards. "I swear if you so much as touch them I'll-"

"You'll what?" Loki asked. "You're not exactly in a position to make threats, my dear."

I flinched, the words _my dear_ scraping against my ears like nails on a chalkboard.

"Don't call me that." I growled, but Loki ignored me, turning his back. I watched as he started to walk away and I felt anger rise up in my chest.

"I'm not afraid of you." I called out and he froze for a moment, before turning back to me.

"Then that," he said coldly, "is your mistake."

OoooooooO

I looked around as the guards dragged me down the hall, trying my best to figure out where we were, but I was at a total loss. I had never seen any place like this before. Judging from the dankness and poor lighting I guessed that we were underground, but where? Everything was made of marble, smooth and colored like crème, but old and crumbling from years of age.

Down off the hallway there was a giant room, which the guards dragged me into before dumping me on the floor. I swore and gasped as I just narrowly avoided bumping my hand against the ground. I glanced down and was glad to see that at least the bleeding appeared to have stopped so the cut could not have been as deep as I originally thought. I knew I had to at least look at it though, so I grit my teeth and peeled back my shirt trying to ignore the pain that licked its way up my arm.

The cut was long, but it didn't appear to be too deep and I was thankful to see that it had in fact stopped bleeding. I tried to recall what I knew about cuts. Sophia was a nurse but unfortunately I didn't know much and I cursed myself silently for not paying more attention. Well first thing was first, I had to clean the cut and get it covered. That much I knew.

Loki was nowhere to be seen, but both of the guards still stood next to me, so I pulled myself off the ground best I could and turned to them. I held my head high and tried my best to appear confident. I may have been a prisoner for the moment, but I sure as hell was not going to act like one.

"I need water."

The men blinked at me and for a moment I wondered if they would only answer to Loki, but I quickly shook the thought and forced as much authority into my voice as I could muster.

"Did you not hear me? I said I need water. Warm water. And a clean cloth to wrap my wounds."

"We only answer to Loki."

_Shit._

"Well why do you think I'm here? I must be pretty important if Loki dragged me all the way here and he sure as hell wouldn't want anything to happen to me."

The cut on my hand was not exactly going to kill me, but I figured that I should play it up a bit. The guards would be more likely to help me if they thought that they would get in trouble otherwise. Sure enough, the younger man shot a look towards his partner. The other guard didn't appear to notice, but he paused, thinking over my words and after a moment he frowned.

"Fine. Wait here." Then he turned to the other man. "Watch her."

I figured that this might be a good time to run, but even if I made it out, I would have no way to take care of my hand, so I figured that it was in my best interest to fix my wound before devising an escape plan.

A few minutes later the man came back and I practically snatched the supplies from him. I dipped my hand into the water and sighed as the warmth eased the ache of my hand, washing away any of the dried blood. After I had cleaned the cut, I dried and wrapped it in the clean cloth. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.

"Much better." A voice came from behind me and I gasped and jumped, spinning to glare at Loki.

"What do you want?"

He stared at me, his gaze cool as ever. "I just came to ensure that you were no longer mortally wounded. You're no good to me dead."

"How sweet." I said drily. "And to think I thought you actually cared."

"Foolish Midgardian. Like I would ever care about any of your kind. You are all beneath me. You are nothing more than lowly creatures, begging to be ruled."

"Hardly." I narrowed my eyes. "Is that what you want? To rule me? Cause I have news for you, it's never going to happen."

Loki chuckled darkly. "So you say. But I have news for you Midgardian-" He paused a minute and his hand snaked out so fast that I didn't see it until it was wrapped around my throat. I gasped and choked, my hands flying to my throat as his fingers tightened around my windpipe. "You will kneel. You will all kneel before me. I promise that before I am done taking over this lowly planet, I will break you. You will be begging for me to rule you. Do you hear me?"

He hissed the last words in my ear before dropping me in a heap to the ground. I coughed, choking in breathfulls of air as I watched him walk away. Then when I finally had enough breath I found my voice.

"Yea, we'll see about that."

My words were barely more than a whisper, but it was a promise that I intended to keep.


	12. Chapter 10

**Yes, I knew the writer's block would go away :) Thank you all for reacting so fast to my last chapter! It always amazes me how I can put a chapter up at midnight and wake up to 14 emails about how people liked it. Thank you so much! Funny enough I wrote half of this chapter on the back of receipts at work (it was a very boring day :P) because I just kept getting more ideas. Here's hoping it keeps up!**

By the end of the next day I had only determined one thing: I wasn't getting out of here easily. I had no idea how Loki had gotten so many people but he had guards posted at every door. Not to mention the ones that followed me around everywhere. And they were all armed. I guess I should have felt honored that I was enough of a threat to warrant a gun, but then again it made it more difficult to get away.

It had only been twenty-four hours and already the cavern was filled with equipment and men. I wasn't sure what Loki had planned, but walking through everything, I could tell that it wasn't good. Dr. Selvig was hard at work studying the Tesseract and no matter how hard I tried, I could not snap him out of his daze. And I didn't even try with Hawkeye. The guy mostly kept to himself and I had a feeling that trying to persuade him would only earn me an arrow in my eye.

So I waited, kept my distance and observed. The guards didn't bother me as long as I behaved, so I leaned against the wall and tried to piece together what I knew. Whatever Loki wanted, it had something to do with the Tesseract. That's why he had captured Dr. Selvig. The rest of the men did not have the same knowledge of the Tesseract, but they were all soldiers. So this had something to do with power as well.

_I swear,_ I thought, _if he is trying to take over the world or something I am going to flip a shit. _He was crazy enough for it though. And that whole tirade that he went on about Midgardians- what the hell was a Midgardian anyway?- all being beneath him and how I would eventually kneel. Oh God. I felt like I was in the middle of some crazy comic book plot. But even with all of that, that still left one question…. where did I fit in in all of this?

OoooooooO

"We have to get her back."  
"And how do you purpose we do that?"

Agent Coulson and Director Fury stood in the command center of S.H.I.E.L.D's aircraft. The Avengers had all arrived and were out on the flight deck while the two men discussed the events of the previous day.

"Agent Coulson, I understand that you are worried for your niece and I can assure you that we did all that we could to get her back from Loki, but until we know his current whereabouts we can not take any further action."

"With all due respect sir, by then it might be too late."

Director Fury sighed. "I don't believe that Loki will hurt her. He obviously needs Ms. Young for something. We just need to figure out what he has planned."

"Director Fury."

The two men turned to find Agent Romanov entering the room followed by Captain Rogers, Stark and Dr. Banner.

"You wanted to see us?"

"Yes." Fury nodded. "Have a seat."

He motioned to the round table in the middle of the room and the four Avengers sat down. Fury and Agent Coulson remained standing.

"As you know," Fury said, "one of our bases in New Mexico was infiltrated and attacked. They not only took the Tesseract, but also a young girl as well. Agent Coulson's niece."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"What do they want with a kid?" Stark asked.

"Camilla is twenty two," Agent Coulson said, "and lately she has been having some strange dreams. She tells them to her younger brother, thinking that they are nothing more than good stories, but we believe they are something more. Not only did these dreams tell Camilla about one of our top-secret events, but we also believe that she knows about Loki and where he came from. She does not yet understand it, but Loki could try to tap into her dreams, making him even more of a threat."

"Why is that?" Banner asked.

"Because" Director Fury cut in, "Ms. Young is having these dreams, then that means she has the ability to see things and if Loki were to learn to control this he could use it against us. He would be able to know where we are and what we are doing."

"He would always have the upper hand," Agent Romanov said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"So we have to stop him." Captain Rogers said. "What's the plan?"

Director Fury and Agent Coulson exchanged looks. "We are in the process of devising a plan of action."

"So that's code for you have no idea?"

Everyone shot Tony dirty looks.

"That means Mr. Stark," Dr. Fury said tightly, "that as I told Agent Coulson, until we determine Loki's whereabouts, we can not take any further action. However that does not mean that we are not trying, nor does that mean that we will cease preparing. So Agent Romanov please show these men about the ship and inform them of their duties."

Agent Romanov nodded. "Yes sir."

"And as for you," Dr. Fury said, turning back to Agent Coulson, "follow me, we have more work to do."

OoooooooO

Although the base was underground, some sunlight still managed to stream in so I had a pretty good idea of when it was night. I had managed to hold it together for most of the day, but by the time shadows began to creep into the main room I couldn't deny it anymore, I was starving. I hadn't eaten anything all day and I was beginning to seriously regret not taking up uncle Phil's offer for breakfast the day before. The last thing I had eaten was a bag of peanuts on the plane.

I was sitting in the corner, my head on my knees as I tried to fight nausea, when I heard a loud clank. I lifted up my head and the first thing I saw was a pair of legs. Then I noticed the pan on the ground and nearly jumped for it.

"Thought you might need something to eat," a voice said and I paused in eating my roll just long enough to look up and see Hawkeye standing over me. "My God when was the last time you ate?"

"Not too long ago," I grumbled, picking up the fork so I could take a bite of mashed potatoes. "Where the hell did you get all this food?"

Hawkeye shrugged. "Loki."

"Right." I said. "Magic."

Then another thought hit me. Should I be eating this? Oh God who cared? I was too hungry to think about it. A few bites into the potatoes though and I began to change my mind. Why was the room suddenly getting dimmer? And why was everything spinning?

"Wh-What What's in this?"

I grabbed Hawkeye's arm and started to stand up, but I only made it half way up before I fell back down.

I was out before I even hit the ground.

OoooooooO

At first all I could see were shapes and shadows. But I heard a voice. Someone singing a song.

"_Hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird….."_

I groaned and tried to push myself up, but my body was still weak from whatever had been in my food and the room spun.

"_And if that mockingbird don't sing, mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring…"_

"Mom?" I said, finally managing to struggle to my feet. My voice was weak but my vision was finally starting to clear and I could make out where I was. I was in a bedroom and I didn't have to look around for too long to realize it was mine. Or it had been when I was a baby.

The wooden rocking chair that normally sat in the corner was by the window and though it's back was to me, I could see there was a woman in the chair. She was rocking slowly back and forth and singing softly to a baby in her arms. A baby with the same dark auburn hair as her own.

I felt like all the air had been knocked from my lungs.

"Mom?" I said her name again, this time louder, but she still didn't turn.

What was going on? How was I here? There had to have been something in that food that Hawkeye had given me- I had been so stupid to eat it, I should have known not to trust Loki- but if this was a dream why did it feel so real? I could feel the carpet against my bare feet, see my toys sitting in the corner and even smell the soft scent of my mother's perfume.

"_And if that cart and bull fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town._"

I realized that in my thoughts she had finished the lullaby and my head snapped up as the rocking chair shifted. She got up and I held my breath, waiting for her to turn. I had had no idea how much I had missed her until those gray eyes met mine. Eighteen years of trapped feelings flooded over me and I gasped, a hand coming to my chest.

"Mom." This time the word came out in a strangled whisper, my voice laced with pain.

I reached out to her, but she brushed past me and I realized that she hadn't been looking at me, but past me, towards the door.

"What are you doing here?" She said and I was surprised to hear alarm in her voice.

I turned as she set baby me into the crib, trying to make out who was in the doorway but it was no more than a shadow.

"You have to leave." She said. "There's nothing here for you. Just leave us alone."

I couldn't hear the person in the doorway speak, but in that second there was a buzz through the air as though they had spoken.

"No." She said. "Please. Not now. Just give me a few more years with her. After that I promise I will keep up my end of the deal. Just, let me have a few more years with my daughter."

The figure shifted, as if considering her offer, then it inclined its head in a nod and I could see relief wash through my mother's eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you. I swear I will keep my promise. Just, continue to keep yours."

She turned back to me and reached a hand into the crib and for the first time I noticed that there was something around my neck. Not the real me, but baby me. It was a necklace, with a silver charm on the end. I took a step closer and squinted as I realized that there was a symbol on the charm. I tried to look closer, but my mother stepped in front of me before I could.

"Mom, what's going on? What is that?"

But already I could feel the room beginning to spin and everything was starting to slip away.

"No, wait! What's going on? Mom? Mom!"

I reached for her but already she had vanished and I was gone again.


	13. Chapter 11

**Once again another chapter written on receipts haha my coworkers probably think I'm crazy by now, always scribbling away in the corner by the register, but it sure makes work more fun. This chapter is a lot longer than my other ones and next one will probably be one of my favorite to write (the scene in Germany was definitely my favorite in the movie) so can't wait to get to that. But for now enjoy! **

I woke up with my face pressed to the cement of the floor. No one had thought to move me when I fell. How kind of them. I groaned, still dazed from my dream and sat up, rubbing the side of my head. Everything ached, my head, my hand, my body. I felt like I had just been hit by a truck.

But what really hurt was my heart. Great. Eighteen years of not seeing my mother and when I finally found her again, it had all been a dream. But had it? I thought back to the other dreams that I had had: the golden city and Loki on that strange planet. He had turned out to be real. So could this one be too? I really wasn't sure, but I knew one thing: Loki had drugged my food. Where was that bastard?

I lifted my head and looked around the room but although everyone was busy going about their business, Loki was nowhere to be seen. I did see Hawkeye though. He was standing off to the side talking to one of the guards the same blank look in his eyes. Well I didn't care if he had been brainwashed by Loki, I was pissed.

Pushing myself off the ground, I strode over to him and shoved him hard.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded.

He looked startled for a moment, then his face returned to that blank look. He motioned for the guard to leave before turning back to me.

"What do you want?"

"What was in my food?"

"Are you always like this?"

"Do none of you listen to me?" Stupid question but I was frustrated.

"No. Especially not when you're throwing a tantrum."

"I swear I should kill you all."

"With what?" Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "A gun you wrestle off one of the guards? You weigh what, a hundred and ten?"

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his jab at my size.

"Where's Loki?"

"Busy."

"That's great," I snapped, "but I didn't ask what he was doing I asked where he is."

This time he didn't answer and I clenched my jaw in frustration.

"Fine," I said through my teeth, "I'll find him myself."

Then I turned and strode away.

Although the main room that we were in was not too big, it took me a good twenty minutes before I found Loki.

I had thought that I had explored this entire place but apparently not because he was off to the side in a room I had never seen before. I could just make him out in the dim light of the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his staff lying across his lap. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was in a trance.

"Loki." I snapped, but he didn't react.

"Loki." What was he doing, sleeping?

"Loki!" Finally I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, but the second I touched him it was like I was being ripped through a tunnel.

I gasped as I felt the air being squeezed from my lungs. A second later my vision cleared but I almost wished it hadn't.

"Oh no." I whispered. Because I recognized this place. I was back on that planet where I had dreamed about Loki.

OoooooooO

The sky was darker-if that was possible- but I recognized the rock, which was peppered with holes and reached jaggedly for the sky. I was in the same spot that I had been standing before, only this time I didn't have time to duck behind a rock before Loki spotted me.

"You!" He strode over to me, grabbing my arm in a vice grip. "What are you doing here?"

He was dressed in his full green armor, his golden horns glittering satanically on his head. I opened my mouth-not to answer, but to tell him to get his hand off of me- but I didn't get the chance before there was a low hissing. I froze and Loki's head snapped up, his eyes narrowing.

"Too late. Just stand here and do not speak unless directed to, understand?"

"Yea like hell I wi-" But my words were cut short when I saw what had been hissing. A cloaked figure appeared and I recognized it as the creature that had been speaking with Loki the last time that I was here. Only this time its gaze narrowed in on me.

"Who is this?" It said and I winced as the sound of its voice ground against my ears.

"That is not of importance to you." Loki said smoothly.

The creature turned to him, narrowing its eyes.

"You dare bring that creature here?"

Creature? I'm sorry who was speaking to whom?

"As I said," Loki said tightly, "it is none of your concern. You should be concerning yourself only with preparing your forces."

The creature hissed, drawing back its lips to reveal the same blood red teeth that I remembered from my previous dream.

"Our forces have been prepared for far longer than you! The Chitauri grow restless."

"Let them go at themselves, I will lead them in the glorious battle."

"What?" I turned my head towards Loki but he tightening his grip on my arm and I gasped immediately closing my mouth.

"Battle?" The creature hissed and I could have sworn I heard it laugh, like snakes hissing. "Against the meager might of Earth?"

I felt my mouth go dry. Oh God. This was exactly what I had been afraid of.

"Glorious, not lengthy, if your force is as formidable as you claim."

Suddenly the creature spun on us. "You question us? You question him?" He touched the jagged rock and I had a feeling that he was motioning to someone-or something- but what, I did not know. "He who put the scepter in your hand. Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated-"

"I was a king!" Loki snapped and I was surprised at how defensive his voice got. "The rightful king of Asgard. Betrayed."

Betrayed? I thought back to my dreams of the golden city. How Loki had fought with the man in red. Was that what it had been about?

The creature smiled again, only this time I could somehow tell that it was mocking Loki.

"Your ambition is little, full of childish need. We are beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."

"You don't have the Tesseract yet." Loki said flatly and a second later the creature was in front of us. It happened so fast that I didn't even see it and I inhaled sharply, taking a step back.

Loki, however, appeared unfazed.

"I don't threaten." He said, slowly lifting his staff to knock away the creature's hand. "But until I open the doors. Until your force is mine to command, you are but words."

_Okay Loki_. I thought. _Let's mock the creature that_ _has blood red lips and just moved at lightning speed. _Somehow I didn't think that this creature needed words to make us regret that we were here. As if to confirm my thoughts, the creature slinked towards us.

"You will have your war Asgardian." It promised, but I could tell by the way it started circling us that there was more to its words. We were just prey here. "If you fail. If the Tesseract is kept from us. There will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you."

It hissed the last word in Loki's ear, close enough that I had to shy away to avoid touching it and I shivered.

"You think you know pain?" It continued, and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, a long tentacle twisting and writing towards us.

"Um, Loki?" I touched his arm, but he was too busy listening to what the creature had to say.

"He will make you long for something sweet as pain!" On the last words it touched the side of Loki's face and I gasped as we were ripped violently back to reality.

OoooooooO

When I opened my eyes we were back in the dark room again. I shivered; remembering the way the creature had spoken. There was an army? And they were coming to Earth? Oh God so it was one of those crazy take-over-the-world things. What was I doing here?

I turned to Loki who was breathing hard, a frustrated look on his face.

"What was that?" I demanded, though I knew it was probably useless, no one had given me straight answers so far.

"So it's not only dreams," Loki said, ignoring me as usual.

"What?" I said. Then it clicked. "You drugged my food to make me fall asleep. You knew I have these dreams…."

"But it's not only dreams is it?" Loki said with a smile. "You were able to join me just now. How did you do that?"

He took a step closer to me but I backed up.

"I have no idea. I just touched you and suddenly I was there. I didn't ask for it to happen.

"So you can't control it."

"No." I said flatly, my patience beginning to wear thin. "Did it look like I wanted to be there?"

"Hmm," Loki said, more to himself than me. "We will have to changed that."

Then he turned on his heel and left the room.

"Hey!" I shouted, running to catch up with him. His legs were longer than mine so I practically had to jog just to keep up with his pace as we made our way through the machinery.

"Change that? No. I am not a science experiment and whatever you have planned, I want no part of it!"

"Oh but you already are a part of it." He said with a smile.

As we made our way deeper into the research area I noticed Dr. Selvig waving to us, a giant grin on his face. Hawkeye stood next to him, a large handheld computer screen in his hand.

"Hey!" Selvig said when we got close enough. "The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge, it's truth"

_Oh boy_. I thought. He was really far-gone.

"I know." Loki said. Then he turned to Hawkeye. "What did it show you agent Barton?"

"My next target."

"Tell me what you need."

"I'll need a distraction." Hawkeye said, walking over to a case and flicking his wrist to activate his bow. "And an eyeball."

An eyeball? I felt my stomach drop but Loki just smiled again.  
"Anything you need. I think I know just where we can find that." He tilted his head, studying a picture on the screen Hawkeye had been holding, then nodded and grabbed my arm, pulling me off again.

I was so thrown off by what had just happened that I forgot to fight him until we had come to a stop.

"You said I was a part of your plan." I said, tilting my head to look up at him. "How?"

"You'll see." He said. "You've shown that you can do what we want. And you will."

He took a step towards me and although I backed up, I balled my hands into fists.

"You see that's your problem, Loki. You're under the insane impression that I am going to cooperate. Which I haven't. And I won't."

"Oh yes you will."

I laughed harshly. "Sure, or what? Are you going to punish me again?"

"No." Loki shook his head. "On the contrary, I am gong to reward you."

I faltered a little.

"What?"

"I am going to a party. And you will attend with me."

"What? No." This felt like a trick. Loki seemed like the kind of guy whose idea of a party would be a mass murder.

"Yes." He said calmly. "You will."

"You can't make me." I said, not caring if I sounded like a two year old.

Loki smiled.

"Oh you'd be surprised what I can do."


	14. Chapter 12

**It's funny, I meant for Camilla to be sweet when I started this but then as I was writing she snuck in with that sass. I swear that happens with all my female characters. Funny since I am nothing like that. Must be my alter ego. Anyways, when I was writing this chapter I was listening to the song 'Too Good To Be True' by Edens Edge. I am a huge country fan & if you haven't heard it go listen to it now! Haha I killed the repeat button on youtube, the music video is sweet. The main singer actually reminds me of what I wanted Camilla to look like. Only older and Camilla's hair is auburn not brown. **

**(P.S- Hope you enjoy this chapter, it took me longer to get up cause it is the most that I have ever written for one chapter. Everyone has been reviewing a lot so I thought you guys deserved a treat :))**

"No." It was the first word out of my mouth and I watched as Loki clenched his jaw.

"Now there's that word again. You say it as though you have any say in this."

I ignored him. "I am not wearing this."

I looked down at myself and shook my head. A minute after Loki had told me about the party, he had snapped his fingers and I had found myself dressed in something new. It was a floor length gown in the most gorgeous dark shade of emerald green that I had ever seen. A thin strap ran over one of my shoulders and down to a sweetheart neckline. There was a strip of diamonds just below my bust line and a slit ran up the left side of the dress to mid-thigh, exposing my leg every time I moved. It was sexy as hell, but that was the problem.

"I look like a whore. I am not your arm candy."

Loki raised an eyebrow and I realized that he might not have known what that meant. So I rephrased.

"I told you I am not going. I am not helping. So put me back in my normal clothes and leave me the hell alone. It's what you've been doing so far."

"You see that is your problem, you underestimate how important you are."

"I'm flattered." I said flatly. "But I'm still not going." I tugged on one of my curls- Loki had taken the liberty of doing my hair too when he had used magic on me, and I didn't have to look to guess that my face was done up with makeup as well- and frowned. "What kind of party are you going to anyways? This looks more like ball material."

"_We._" Loki said, accentuating the word, "are attending a very exclusive party. I hope you know German."

"What?"

"Never mind that." He said, taking my arm and steering me towards one of the many hallways that lead out of the underground base.

I tugged on his grip, but then for the first time I felt myself pause. This was the only time that I had been allowed out of the compound since we had gotten there. Loki always had men posted at every door, so no matter how hard I tried I could not sneak out. I may not want to attend this party, but if I played my cards right I could get away.

Hawkeye had said that he needed something, so this trip was more than just a casual outing. If Loki was looking for something, that would mean that he was distracted and if I could get away just long enough to contact Uncle Phil then he would be able to send help.

"Fine." I said suddenly and Loki and all his men stopped turning to face me. We were outside now, standing a few hundred yards away from a helicopter and the force of the blades whipped my hand over my shoulder.

"Fine." I repeated. "I'll go. But I won't help you hurt anyone. I'm not your minion and I won't play nice with you."

Loki smiled. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

Then he extended his hand and reluctantly I took it, following him onto the helicopter and watching, as the compound became nothing more than a speck out the window.

OooooooO

The helicopter took us back to the military base- or what was left of it- where Loki's men had managed to get a hold of one of the military planes. Then from there we faced an eight-hour plane ride where I had plenty of time to think. I knew that I should be thinking about how I would escape, but my mind kept wandering back to my dreams.

The ones of the golden city, the planet where Loki had first spoken to me, and now the one of my mother. That last one had been real. I just knew it. Somehow I was seeing a piece of my own past. Some sort of warped memory. But unfortunately I had only gotten pieces of this memory. I still had no idea who the figure in the doorway was or what had been etched on the charm around my neck. And without these details the dream was useless to me.

I sighed and rested my head in my hands, thoroughly frustrated.

"Something the matter?" A slick voice asked a moment later and I raised my head to see Loki lounging in the doorway.

"Do you really care?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No." He said, pushing himself away from the doorframe.

"Of course not." I said softly, returning my head to my hands.

"What is on your mind?"

"You just said you don't care. Leave me alone."

"I do care if it can aid me in what I am doing."

"Well first off," I said, raising my eyes to meet his, "I don't know what you are doing. You still won't tell me. And secondly does everything have to do with you?"

"Yes." He said evenly, as if this was common knowledge.

"Cocky bastard." I muttered. I surveyed him up and down. He even looked the part. His long hair was perfectly slicked back and he had changed into mortal clothes. His creepy armor was now replaced by a well-tailored suit and a long dark coat. He had even topped off the ensemble with a green scarf lined in gold, which hung loosely around his neck.

His eyes narrowed. "Careful what you say to me, Midgardian. I have shown you kindness so far but do not think that it will last if you continue to defy me."

"Kindness?" I laughed harshly. "Is that what you call it? Wow I would hate to see it when you are really angry then."

"Continue to act as you do as you may just get your wish."

OoooooO

I tried to fight sleep, but about five hours into the flight and I realized that it was a losing battle. I had hardly slept since Loki captured me- aside from the time that he drugged me- and my body was starting to feel the effects of that. So I closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me.

Luckily this time I did not dream and a few hours later I felt someone shaking me awake. I opened my eyes to find a young boy standing over me, his hand on my shoulder. I didn't recognize him at first and then I noticed that he was wearing flight gear and I realized that he must have been one of the men who ran the plane.

"Um Ms. Young," he said and his voice shook as though he were afraid of me. Then I realized something else. His eyes didn't have the same blank look as the other men that Loki had used his staff on. He wasn't under the spell.

"Yes?" I said, suddenly sitting straight up. This boy couldn't have been older than eighteen or nineteen but he wasn't brainwashed. He could help me.

"The men instructed me to tell you that we are landing soon."

"Oh really? Okay. Listen, what's your name?"

"Trevor, miss." He was exceedingly polite and I was surprised to still hear the note of fear in his voice.

"Please call me Camilla. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not with them. Well I am, but I'm not helping them, not willingly at least-" I cut off, realizing that I was just talking in circles. "But never mind about that. Trevor, are there any phones on this plane?"

"Yes," he said and my heart leapt- "but Loki cut all of them off when he got on the plane"- and then took a dive right back into my stomach.

"Right…" I said softly. "Of course he did."

Damn that man thought of everything. It was going to be harder than I thought to outsmart him.

There was a bang on the door and Trevor and I both turned our heads, startled.

"Trevor!" Someone shouted and I saw the color drain from the boy's face. "What is taking so long? Get your lazy ass out here!"

"I better go." He said softly but before he could go I caught his hand.

"Listen, Trevor." I said. "Don't let them push you around."

He laughed weakly and for the first time I saw him smile. "I'm not sure I have much of a choice. I saw what that guy can do. Is he even human?"

"I don't know." I said weakly. "But I know what you mean. Just keep your head down but don't let them brainwash you too okay? I'm going to figure out how to get us out of this."

I said the words with conviction, but I was beginning to realize how hard this would be. It was worth it though to see Trevor's smile widen.

"Alright." He nodded. "Just be careful too, okay?"

I nodded and laughed softly. "I'll do my best."

OoooooO

The plane touched down about a half an hour later and this time there was a limousine waiting for us.

"Riding in style huh?" I said, but no one laughed.

We all crowded into the car-me, Loki, Hawkeye and about six armed guards- and as soon as the doors closed we were off. I tried to keep my distance from everyone but the car was so crowded that I found myself pressed up against Loki. I bit my lip, suppressing an irritated groan and busied myself looking out the window.

We were in Stuttgart, Germany- the pilot had announced that as we were landing- but I still had no idea where we were going. As we made our way deeper into the city I began to notice other limousines and sports cars. Although I couldn't see into them because of the tinted windows I had a feeling that they were heading to the same place as us. I leaned against the window, following the cars with my eyes and I finally saw where we were headed.

"Wow." I breathed. It was a giant building made of white marble with giant roman pillars and a red velvet carpet leading to the front entrance. It looked like either a giant museum or the world's most elegant banquet hall.

As soon as the car pulled up Hawkeye got out with the guards while Loki and I paused on the velvet carpet.

"Are you ready?" Loki asked.

"As ready as I can be considering that I have no idea what is going on." I said the last part sarcastically but Loki, as usual, chose to ignore me.

"Just stay close to me and do not speak." He instructed.

"Yea." I muttered. "Like I said. Arm candy."

I moved forward, expecting that we would go through the main entrance but Loki grabbed my arm, directing me to a door off to the side. I followed and we made our way up a set of stairs and onto a marble balcony overlooking the first floor. Down below us were hundreds of people all dressed in suits and elegant gowns. There was a string quartet playing in the corner and in the center of the room sat what looked like a statue of a giant bull. It was made of cracked marble and its back dipped down to a flat table-like surface.

I wanted to look longer, but Loki tugged on my arm again and we were off, making our way down the main spiraled staircase. I could hear that a man had begun to make a speech in German and wondered again why we were here. As we made our way around a corner Loki shifted his hold, one hand on his staff and one on me. There was a guard standing next to one of the pillars and just as he turned his head Loki spun his staff in his hand and wound up, slamming the man in the face.

I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as he let go of my arm and stormed across the room. Taking hold of the man who had been speaking, he dragged him across the floor while the crowd and I watched helplessly. One flick of his wrist and the man was on the table, pinned by Loki's hand. I watched, frozen, as he reached into his coat and pulled out some sort of instrument. It looked menacing enough but when it lit up and started to glow and spin, the spike on the bottom gleaming, I felt my stomach drop.

Loki's face remained calm, even as he brought the blades down onto the man's eye and the German began to writhe in pain. It was the screams of the crowd that snapped me out of my daze.

"Loki!" I shouted, my body stiff from shock and fear.

He looked up and smiled as his gaze met mine. It was the expression of a child that had just done something he was proud of and the look alone made my stomach drop. Loki glanced around, surveying the panicked crowd with pride and a second later he let go of the man, before following the mass of people out the door.

As he walked his suit began to melt away, his body shinning as his human clothes were replaced by armor.

_Oh no_. I thought. What was he going to do?

Reaching down I grabbed my dress and lifted it so I could run after him. As soon as I made it outside though, I knew that this was not good. Loki had cornered the frightened crowd in a stone courtyard across the street. As he made his way across the road a police car came roaring down the street but one flick of Loki's wrist and the cruiser went flying, flipping over once before skidding down the street on its roof.

He waved his hand and slowly clones of himself began to appear around the perimeter of the courtyard.

"Kneel before your king!" He commanded, but all of the people continued to run, changing directions as the clones appeared in front of them. "I said. . . KNEEL!"

The last word came out as a shout and I watched as he slammed his staff against the ground, sending out a sharp blue light, which traveled from clone to clone, trapping the people.

They all gasped then slowly sank to their knees.

Loki smiled. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?"

He began to make his way through the crowd, extending his staff in front of him so the people would make a pathway. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

The crowd didn't move for a moment, and then a man rose from the ground. He was older, but even so his voice carried across the courtyard.

"Not to men like you."

Loki laughed. "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you." The old man said and I felt my heart swell as I realized that he was brave enough to defy Loki. But Loki did not appear amused. His eyes narrowed and I immediately recognized that same gleam that he got in his eyes right before he was about to hurt me.

"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example."

He lowered his staff and as I saw what he was about to do I suddenly found my voice.

"No!" I shouted, running across the street as fast as I could and grabbing the arm that held Loki's staff.

"Camilla!" Loki snapped and I flinched. It was the first time that he had used my name and the word was sharp and harsh. He turned his body, shaking me off and then his hand clamped over my arm so tightly that I gasped. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Loki you have to stop this." I knew that it was a weak attempt, but I figured I would try it.

But he just shook his head and smiled cruelly. "Sorry my dear, but you do not get everything that you wish. Now, be a good example and show respect for your king. Kneel." The last word came out as a hiss again and suddenly I felt my anger flare up.

"No," I hissed right back.

Loki blinked as though he had not expected me to defy him, but then his smile returned.

_Oh no._ My heart sank. That was never good. Loki's smile was usual followed by some form of chaos and sure enough, he tugged on my arm, pulling me to face the crowd.

"Do you see?" He asked and despite the fact that he spoke in English I could tell that the crowd understood him- no doubt the result of some form of magic. "How some fight this? But what this young girl does not see is how this will benefit her."

Benefit me? Now I knew that he had lost it. How on Earth could I benefit from someone as harsh and violent as Loki?

"Under my rule," he continued, "your lives will be free of chaos. You will no longer have the burden of making decisions."

"So basically no freedom." I ground out. "Funny but that doesn't sound appealing to me. And I don't know about the rest of these people but I am with the old man, I will _never_ kneel before you!"

"Foolish girl!" Loki spat and I gasped as he threw me to the ground. I landed hard, then turned, scrambling back on my hands as he advanced on me. "I told you if you defied me one more time that you would pay."

He raised his staff and I closed my eyes, preparing for the impact, but it never came. Instead I clamped my hands to my ears as there was an Earth shattering crash.


	15. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, sorry I know everyone has been asking me to update ASAP and usually I start writing as soon as I end the previous chapter but I've been sick for the past few days :p But now we get to see all of the other characters and we especially get to meet my second favorite guy, Captain America! I do not rate many men a 10 but let me tell you, Chris Evans is ;) Damn that boy is fine! **

I opened my eyes to find someone kneeling over me. He had his back to me but one look at his red, white and blue outfit and I recognized him almost immediately.

"Oh my God…" I whispered as a picture from Jacob's comic books flashed through my head. It was Captain America.

He glanced over his shoulder and as his gaze caught mine I felt my breath catch. Damn his eyes were blue.

"Are you alright miss?" He asked and I nodded, still too shocked to say anything.

He had his shield out in front of us and I realized that the Earth shattering sound that I heard had been the sound of Loki's laser hitting the titanium metal. He had saved my life.

Captain America nodded, then extended his hand to me and I took it, allowing him to pull us both to our feet. After he had ensured that I was unscratched, he turned his attention to Loki.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."

The beam that Loki had shot from his staff had bounced off the shield, knocking him to his hands and knees and he raised his head, his gaze a mix of surprise and irritation.

"The soldier." He said, pushing himself slowly off the ground, brushing his cape behind him. "A man out of time."

_What?_ I thought, but Captain America seemed to know exactly what Loki was talking about.

He smiled. "I'm not the one who's out of time."

Almost as if on cue there was a rush of wind and a plane appeared out of nowhere. It was sleek, a black jet, which I recognized vaguely from the military base. I watched as it pulled back and a giant gun dropped down from the bottom of the plane, spinning to face the ground.

"Loki," a female voice said, ringing out from a speaker on the plane, "drop the weapon and stand down."

I looked to Loki, but his eyes only hardened and he shot at the plane with his staff. The jet swerved and Captain America pushed me to the side as he lunged towards Loki. I stumbled, but then caught my balance watching in shock as the two men began to fight. Captain America threw his shield at Loki, knocking him back a few steps before it returned to the Captain's hand. He moved in, managing to land a few good punched before Loki swung his staff, knocking Captain America across the courtyard.

He rolled back to his feet and then threw his shield again but Loki knocked it to the ground with his staff. Okay time for me to take that away from him. I kicked off my heels, running up as the men fought hand to hand. Loki swung his staff again, knocking Captain America to the ground, but this time before he could get up, Loki placed his staff on the soldier's head, pushing him down.

"Kneel." He hissed but by that time I had reached the two men and reached out grabbing Loki's staff.

"Not today!" I said and Loki, caught off guard, turned and loosened his hold. Taking this as my opportunity, I shoved my hands down and back, twisting his arm. He gasped in pain as I wrenched the staff out of his hand and took a step back. "Still want me to be your arm candy?" I asked, smiling triumphantly.

Loki's eyes narrowed and he took a step towards me. But just as I starting backing up, music suddenly echoed through the courtyard. Captain America and I turned our heads and Loki looked up just in time to be hit in the chest by a beam of golden light. I gasped and stumbled back but Captain America caught me, having climbed to his feet. A second later something hit the ground and as the figure straightened up I heard myself gasp.

"This is not happening." I said, even as I watched Iron Man extend his arm as if daring Loki to fight back. Dozens of mini guns sprouted up from his armor, all aimed at the stairs where Loki lay sprawled.

"Make your move." Iron Man mocked but to my surprise Loki turned his gaze to me. Something flashed in his eyes and I caught my breath tightening my grip on his staff. Then the moment passed and he turned back to Iron Man, raising his hands in defeat as his armor melted away.

Iron Man dropped his arms and I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "Good move." The he turned to me. "And you must be Camilla."

OoooooooooO

The next thing I knew I found myself on the plane with Iron Man, Captain America, Loki and a woman who introduced herself as Agent Romanov. I felt like someone had just dropped me onto the pages of my brother's comic books.

"So you're Agent Coulson's kid," Iron Man said.

"His niece," I corrected but my voice came out weakly. I could practically feel Loki's eyes burning into me and it was extremely distracting.

Iron Man shrugged and waved his hand in the air as if to brush it off. "Details. Any who, you got yourself into a lot of trouble huh?"

"Like that was my fault?" I snapped and I heard Loki chuckle. I shot him a look, but Captain America placed a gentle hand on my arm, distracting me.

"It wasn't your fault," he said, frowning at Iron Man, "and what matters now is that you are okay. Your uncle has been very worried about you."

"So he's okay." I let out a breath, only then realizing that I hadn't known whether he made it off the base before everything started collapsing.

"Yes he's fine." Captain America said. "Are you?"

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yea I'm fine. Aside from being a fucking psycho-" I shot Loki another look and I saw his jaw tighten, "he didn't do any permanent damage.

"Yet." I thought I heard Loki whisper, but I ignored him, turning my attention back to the Captain.

"Thank you for saving me." I said and I was surprised to see his cheeks color slightly.

"Anytime." He said softly, looking down.

For a moment the only sound was the whir of the plane engines, then Iron Man cleared his throat. "Um hate to break up the moment, but anyone wonder why Rock of Ages over there gave up so easily?"

"I don't remember it being that easy." The Captain said, turning his gaze away from the floor. "This guy packs a wallop."

Wallop? I gawked at the word before remembering that he had been born over seventy years ago.

"Still you are pretty spry," Iron Man said, "for an older fellow. What's your thing, Pilates?"

"Huh?" I stared at him, but when I saw the look on Captain America's face a laugh forced its way out of me. He looked so confused.

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics." Iron man continued, "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a capsicle."

This time a snort escaped my lips and I clamped my hands over my mouth.

Captain America glared at Iron Man, his eyes growing serious. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yea, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

"Fury? What does he have to do with-" I started to say but my words were cut short by a crack of thunder. Lightning flashed across the sky and we all turned our attention to the windows, momentarily distracted.

"Where did this come from?" Agent Romanov said and I heard the jingle of chains as Loki leaned forward to look out the window.

Captain America glanced over his shoulder. "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki said before returning his gaze to the sky and I suddenly felt uneasy. Whatever it was, it had to be something big to make Loki look uneasy.

"Um, guys," I said, "maybe we should be a little worried."

And not a second after I had finished my sentence something hit the top of the plane with a crash. I stumbled, but caught myself on the side of the wall, watching as Iron Man and Captain America instantly went into super hero mode, reaching for their gear.

Iron Man reached out and hit a button on a panel on the wall, and I gasped as the back of the jet dropped open.

"What are you doing?" I asked, grabbing onto my dress as the wind threatened to push me against the wall.

Iron Man ignored me, his attention on the man who had just dropped into the jet. I leaned over to get a good look at him and this time I didn't even have the energy to be surprised. It was the man from my dreams. The one that Loki had been fighting with. His long blonde hair whipped around in the wind and he brushed his red cape aside before standing up. There was a whir as Iron Man wound up his weapons, but before he could shoot the man smashed him in the chest with his hammer.

Iron Man went flying and I dove out the way to avoid being hit, landing on the ground with a thud. I sat up, rubbing my arm before turning my attention back to the man.

"Hey!" I shouted and he turned his gaze on me. For a moment he looked surprised, but then his look hardened.

"You should not be here." He said and I gaped at him.

"Me? You're a little far from home, aren't you?"

For a moment he looked like he was going to answer, but then he suddenly turned, yanking Loki from his bindings before disappearing off the edge of the plane.

"Oh shit!" I gasped as I watched them fall.

Iron Man sighed. "And now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Agent Romanov asked and I turned my head to look at her.

"Asgardian…" Why did the name sound so familiar? I searched my mind for an answer but I was coming up blank.

"Think the guy's friendly?" Captain America asked, bringing me back to reality.

"Doesn't matter." Iron Man said, "If he frees Loki or kills him the Tesseract's lost." He turned to follow the two men off the back of the plane but Captain America called out to him.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan." Iron Man said, glancing over his shoulder. "Attack." Then he fired up his jets and was gone.

"Great idea." I muttered. Well I wasn't just going to sit around here and do nothing. I scanned the ship and when my eyes fell on some parachute packs I smiled. I reached for one, but Captain America reached out, catching my hand before I could grab it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to help."

"No you are not."

I shot him a look. "I've been with Loki for the past three days, I know how to talk to him." It was a lie, but I figured I would throw it out there. Unfortunately the Captain didn't look convinced.

"You're staying here. Where it's safe."

"He's right." Agent Romanov called from the cockpit. "In fact both of you should stay."

"Not me," Captain America said, reaching past me to grab the pack.

"Oh so you get to go?" I asked.

"I'd sit this one out Cap," Agent Romanov said, even as he was fastening the belts around him.

"I don't see how I can."

"These guys come from legend they're basically gods."

Gods, huh? Well that explained a lot.

"There's only one God ma'am." He said. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

He went to the back of the plane but I grabbed his arm before he could jump. "Look, either you strap me in with you or I'm jumping alone. But either way I am not staying here."

He gave me a long look, but something in my eyes must have convinced him because a second later he sighed. "Alright." He stepped away from the edge and took my hand, pulling me close so my back was to him. Then he unhooked his belt, looping it around me before refastening it to the pack.

"Better hold on tight."

I nodded grabbing tight to the cords.

"You ready?"

"I'm ready!"

Then before I could think we both ran forward and launched ourselves into the air.


	16. Chapter 14

**Love you guys so much that I thought I would give you two chapters in 24 hours. This one is a bit shorter but I couldn't stop writing and thought I would make up for the time missed when I was sick. Enjoy and please please please keep reviewing! It makes me smile :) And gets me more pumped up to write.**

The second we started falling I began to wonder if this was a good idea. My dress whipped out behind me and I watched as the ground raced up to meet us. Captain America slipped his hand around my waist, using one arm to hold onto me while the other released the parachute. We were yanked backwards for a moment before the chute caught and then we slowly started descending towards the ground.

"So what's the plan?" He asked, shouting to be heard over the sound of the wind.

"You go find Iron Man and I'll talk to Loki."

"No. Not a good plan."

"Hey you asked me and that's what I'm going to do. I just suggest you find Iron Man before he kills that guy."

"That man is a god, I am not sure that he can be killed."

"You know what I mean," I said.

"Hold on!" He said as we finally reached the ground. The landing was not graceful but I was relieved when my feet finally touched the ground.

I tugged at my dress, grabbing the trail in my hand as Captain America untangled us from the cords.

We had landed on a dark landscape. To our left was a dense forest and off in the distance I could just make out Loki standing on top of a jagged cliff. He was gazing down at something and I didn't have to wonder for a moment before there was a giant crash. I glanced over at the forest and a second later Iron Man appeared in the air, before blasting back towards the ground. Great so he had decided to pick a fight with a god.

"You better go fix that," I said, pointing at the forest, but just as I went to turn away Captain America grabbed my hand.

"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" He asked, his eyes full of worry.

"Yea," I lied, forcing a smile. "I'll be fine. You just go take care of that," I pointed back to the forest, "and I'll deal with Loki." I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do this but I figured I shouldn't mention that just yet.

He looked uneasy, but after a moment he nodded and let go of my hand. "Alright. But any sign of danger. Anything and you yell for me, got it?"

I smiled, touched by his concern. "Yea, I promise."

Then I turned my attention back to the cliffs and started running.

OooooooO

The jagged rocks of the hill dug into my bare feet but I ignored the pain, concentrating only on reaching Loki as fast as I could. When I reached the top of the hill I paused for a moment, catching my breath. Loki had his back to me and I didn't think he knew I was there just yet.

"Well if it is not the one who caused all of this damage."

Never mind.

"What?" I said as he turned to face me.

He was dressed in his armor once again and showed no signs of having been in a fight just hours before. He stood tall and regal, his chin lifted and his eyes bright, daring me to defy him. He looked like a king.

"What's the matter darling?" He asked, his mouth curving up in a smirk. "Finally run out of things to say?"

"Why do you even call me that?" I said, ignoring what he said.

"What? Darling?" I cringed at the word and his smirk grew. "Simply because it seems to bother you so. It really is fascinating how a simple word can throw you mortals so off balance."

"How is this my fault?"

"Simple." He said, his eyes boring into mine. "You did not do as you were told."

"I'm not a six year old," I snapped at him, my eyes narrowing as my hands balled into fists. "And unlike the rest of your men, your little glow stick doesn't work on me. So you're out of luck there."

"No it doesn't," Loki said softly and he glanced away, almost as if he was calculating something, "but magic does."

"What?" I started to ask him what he meant and then realized that I didn't care, that wasn't why I was here. "What are you after Loki?"

"What am I after? You're going to have to elaborate, darling." He smiled at me and that just served to fuel my frustration.

"What the hell is your game plan? Revenge? Power? World domination? Or is it something more original than that?"

He laughed and the sound seemed to echo through the whole landscape. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Actually I just want you the fuck out of my life, but in order to do that I have to help these guys break you down." _Hey, why not just admit it? _

Loki's eyes hardened. "You honestly believe that you can do anything to stop me? A human." He said the last word as if were something dirty, a curse or slime in his mouth.

"Alone? Maybe not. But you underestimated me more than once, are you seriously willing to do it again?"

"No I suppose not," Loki said to himself and then before I could blink his arm snaked out and he grabbed me.

I gasped as he pulled me flush against him, but before I could do anything his mouth came down over mine and I froze.

What the hell was he doing?

My mouth had been open because of the gasp and Loki breathed into my mouth, somehow managing to mutter some words at the same time. By the time I thought to move he had already pushed me away and was wiping the back of his had across his mouth as if to rid himself of me.

"What," I gasped touching my lips, "what was that?"

I was so surprised that my voice came out in a squeak, all confidence gone.

"That," he said with a smile, "was magic. A most unfortunate way to administer it but since you seem to be immune to the scepter this was my only viable option."

"What?" I gasped, all of the complicated words in his sentence confusing my shocked brain for a moment but then his words sank in. "What did you do to me?"

"It's just a simple spell, but you'll find it is very effective. Move more than five feet from me and you will be unable to breathe."

Five feet? What?

"Why would you do that?"

"Simple. You say that I cannot control you. I wish to prove you wrong. Plus as much trouble as you have proven to be, you do still serve a purpose to me so I can not have you running off again."

He barely had time to finish explaining though before something came flying out of nowhere and hit him squarely in the chest. He went flying and I turned to see Captain America and Iron Man hurrying towards me, followed by the man in the red cape. Loki groaned and lifted his head to look at the men.

"Would you kindly stop knocking me off my feet?"

"Don't touch her." Captain America growled, adjusting his shield as it came back to him. Then he turned to me. "Are you okay?"

"Um yea." I said, but I knew I was far from it. I touched my throat and thought back to the other times that Loki had used magic on me: when he had kept me from calling out to Agent Hill and when he had drugged my food. Those times it had worked, so there was no reasons that shouldn't now.

"Come on," Captain America said and I realized that while I had been thinking Iron Man and the other man had each taken one of Loki's arms and yanked him to his feet. I had no idea where the jet was but my guess was that we were going to continue our journey to wherever we had been going.

Captain America gently took my hand, but when I realized that he meant for us to start walking I froze. _Five feet. Crap_.

"Um," I said hurriedly, "I want to help them take Loki to the plane. He has been pulling tricks all day-"

"God of mischief," the man in the red muttered and I glanced at him and nodded.

"Right, um god of mischief. Anyway, I think we need a lot of people to hold him. Just to be safe."

Loki didn't say anything, but I could see the laughter dancing in his eyes. He knew exactly what I was doing. I reached for his arm squeezing harder than was necessary and shot him a look that I hoped could kill.

He may have thought he had me, but I was going to show this guy that he couldn't control me if it was the last thing I did.

**Gahh he kissed her! Or did he? 0_0 Hahah I have been planning that for so long and I think it is definitely my fav Loki magic. So no worries they are not falling in love too fast. I just thought I would spice things up ;)**


	17. Chapter 15

**Alright sadly this is probably the end of my day-to-day updates for the moment. I am going to take a moment and plan because this next chapter will involve a lot of details and revealing and I want to get it just right. Also I need to give my other stories some TLC lol cause I have been so busy writing this story that I haven't updated those at all. But no worries, I promise I will be back soon :)**

**(P.S- Sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes, I was super sleepy when I was proof reading this but I wanted to get it up ASAP)**

We made the rest of the ride in almost complete silence, but this time I was forced to sit next to Loki. I told Captain America that it was because I was tired and this was the only place where I could sit, but really it was the only place where I wouldn't risk triggering Loki's spell.

As we flew Iron Man and Captain America talked softly to the man in the red. Despite their fight earlier, he and Iron Man seem to be getting along relatively well at the moment. They must have bonded over their mutual dislike of Loki. I wished that I could join in the bashing but I was forced to sit there and stare at the floor. Beside me I could feel Loki chuckle.

"What has you so down?" he asked, his voice light and mocking.

I glared at him. "You bastard, what did you do to me?"

"I have already told you."

"Does it really work?"

"Well you have not moved far from me since I administered the spell so I assume that you believe so."

"That doesn't answer my question."

He smiled. "Are you willing to test it?"

I didn't answer and his smile grew.

"I thought not."

"All I've done is cause you trouble," I said, my voice lowering to a harsh whisper, "and yet you still want me around? I feel like I should be touched but instead I just want to kill you."

Loki laughed and the other men sent him wary looks before returning to their conversation. "Perhaps I simply enjoy your company."

"Yea I doubt it. You stole my voice. And you tried to choke me. And you drugged my food."

"Simply because you did not listen."

"There's that again. You keep telling me to listen and then you flip out when I don't. Is that your problem? Did someone not listen to you and that's why you're so crazy?"

My words were meant to be sarcastic but something flashed in his eyes and I realized that I might have actually been onto something.

"So that's it? That's why you're-" I started to say but I was cut off as Agent Romanov called to us from the cockpit.

"We are cleared to land. You might want to brace yourselves."

"Land?" I said, suddenly confused. We were over three thousand feet in the air yet I could feel the jerk of the plane as the landing gear dropped down. Where were we going to land? A second later I got my answer as something appeared in the window.

"Oh my God," I breathed. It was a giant aircraft carrier. But it was suspended in the air, held there by four spinning propellers located on each corner of the ship. "What is this?" I asked leaning forward to try and see out the window.

"This," Agent Romanov said over her shoulder, "is headquarters."

She flipped a few more switches and the plane began to descend towards the landing strip.

"Headquarters for what?

OooooooO

Almost as soon as we touched down on the deck we were met by a group of guards that held chains, which they attached to Loki's wrists. He did not look overly thrilled about this, but he also didn't fight them, instead keeping his eyes on me. After he had been restrained, the guards took positions around him and I stepped back as far as I dared without triggering Loki's magic.

Agent Romanov led us inside and from the way she walked ahead I could tell that she was obviously familiar with the ship. Iron Man and Captain America walked behind her followed by the man in the red- I really did need to figure out his name, and all of their names for that matter, I couldn't keep calling these guys by their super hero titles- and then finally myself and the guards.

We had to walk almost in single file due to the narrow hallways but after a minute it opened up and I gaped as I took in the room. The first thought that came to my mind was that it looked like something out of a movie. It was a command center, or at least that was my best guess.

There were men and women everywhere, some talking with one another while others worked at the endless computers that lined the room on different levels. Directly in front of us sat a table and although he had his back to us, I recognized Fury right away. He stood facing the windows of the plane- an entire wall was made completely of glass- and had each of his hands on a pair of control panels.

"What's going on?" I asked, turning to one of the guards, but before he could answer me, someone called out.

"Camilla!"

I turned and when I saw who it was I almost collapsed in relief. "Uncle Phil!"

I went to run to him, but then pulled up short as I remembered the spell. I glanced back at Loki and when I looked at my uncle again, his gaze was confused.

"Camilla? What's wrong?" he took a step towards me and reached out to grab my arm but I pulled away.

"Um…" I searched my mind for an explanation but nothing came up fast enough and my eyes flicked to Loki again. I realized my mistake almost as soon as I made it, but by then it was too late. Fury had turned and I saw his eye narrow. He took a step forward, gently nudging my uncle aside so that he could stand in front of me.

"Ms. Young, what is going on?"

"Nothing." I said taking a step back, but unfortunately this only put me closer to Loki.

"Yes Ms. Young," I heard him say from behind me and I didn't have to turn around to know that he was smiling. "Tell Director Fury what is going on."

I turned my head and glared at him, willing him to be quiet. I had no idea why but I did not want to tell anyone what Loki had done to me. Maybe it was the fact that I would have to explain that he kissed me- not a real kiss, but his mouth had sure as hell been on mine- or maybe it was because I had a feeling that it would raise suspicion. I had been with this man for the past three days, if I made any mention of magic Fury and his men could claim that Loki had used it to brainwash me and that was the last thing I needed.

"Camilla, this is ridiculous, what is he talking about?" This time uncle Phil actually managed to get a grip on my arm and I gasped as he started to pull me away.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Loki said and the look on his face resembled a

child on Christmas. He was thrilled to finally have me under his thumb.

"Oh no?" Director Fury snapped. "And why not?"

"Well if Miss Young gets too far from me you will find that she finds it rather...hard to breathe."

As if on cue I felt my airway contract and I dropped to my knees, clutching my throat.

"Camilla?" Uncle Phil tightened his grip on my arm, his eyes wide. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, unable to talk and just pointed towards Loki.

"Let her go!" Director Fury ordered and I shoved the guards aside as I stumbled back towards Loki reaching for his shoulder. The second that I touched him the pressure disappeared and I sucked in air, gasping and coughing.

"You bastard!" I gasped as soon as I could speak. So it wasn't a trick.

"What did you do to her?" Uncle Phil demanded. He took a step forward but Fury reached out and touched his shoulder, holding him back.

"Agent Lansen," he said and one of the men from the line stepped forward, "escort this…man to the holding cell."

The holding cell? What was this a medieval castle?

"And take Ms. Young with you."

"What?" Uncle Phil burst out and my head whipped up at Fury's last words.

"She has to," he said tightly, his gaze fixed on Loki. "Until we can figure out what is ailing her, Ms. Young has to stay close to him or this could happen again."

"So you're going to lock her up?" Uncle Phil said indignantly and my heart sank as I realized that that was the only option.

"We have no other choice."

"Excellent." Loki said and this time I watched as a smile lit up his face.

"Yea," I said through clenched teeth, "great."

OooooooO

The guards led us back down the hall and into a separate branch of the plane where I assumed we were going to be held. The holding cell was located in a large circular room. There was a control panel and several levels, but not much else. That was, aside from the giant cage in the middle. It was huge, at least one hundred feet around, and shaped like a giant cylinder. There were four glass windows on each side of it and the cage was anchored in placed by massive steel arms.

As we walked into the room, Fury made his way over to the control panel and punched in a code. A second later there was a pop and one of the glass windows on the cage slid open to become a door, allowing us inside. The guards immediately pushed Loki forward but before I could go in, Fury lightly touched my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about this Ms. Young."

"I know," I said before he could say anything else, then I turned and followed Loki inside. I tried not to wince as I heard the door slide shut and instead turned my attention to Fury. The other guards had left, but he returned to the control panel, turning to face us.

"In case it's unclear," he said, addressing Loki as he typed another code into the control panel, "you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass-" He pressed a button and suddenly the whole room was filled with the sound of rushing wind. Loki took a few steps forward and we both looked down to see that the floor under the cage had pulled away to reveal nothing but thin air.

"Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He tapped the button again and the room quieted as the floor slid back into place. "Ant." He motioned to Loki and then back to the control panel, "boot."

I groaned, but to my surprise Loki didn't even look phased. Instead he started laughing.

"It's an impressive cage," he said, holding up his hands as if to give Fury props, "not built I think for me." He pointed to himself with both hands on the last word and raised an eyebrow, daring Fury to deny it.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh I've heard," Loki said. He turned to the side and for the first time I noticed that there was a camera hanging just outside the glass. "The mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man."

"What?" I said but my voice was so soft that neither of the men heard me. That or they chose to ignore me.

"How desperate are you?" Loki continued and I suddenly got the feeling that the others were watching us as well. He was acting as though he were addressing an audience. "You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun." With each word Fury took a step forward until he stood just feet from Loki, the glass the only thing that was separating them. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad you did."

"Oooo," Loki said and if I couldn't hear the sarcasm in his voice, I could see it on his face. He was mocking Fury. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract. To have power. Unlimited power. And for what?" He smiled and turned his attention back to the camera. "A warm light for all mankind to share?"

What was he talking about? I hadn't said anything so far, but as Loki spoke I made my way closer to the front of the cage so I could watch him and Fury converse. It was like watching a ping-pong match and I could practically feel electricity crackling in the air as if one of them were about to explode.

Loki turned his attention back to Fury and in that moment I saw his eyes grow dark. "And then to be reminded what real power is."

"And what's that?" I snapped, suddenly sick of being a wallflower. "You?"

Loki's attention snapped to me and if looks could kill I would have been dead on that floor.

Fury smirked. "Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something. And Ms. Young," he turned his attention to me, "you just holler if you need anything, alright?"

I nodded. "Wish me luck."


	18. Chapter 16

I watched as the doors to the room slid shut and then there was nothing but silence. I was aware of Loki behind me, but I didn't move to look at him, just stood and stared at the glass. For all of my bravado, I was not happy to be here. And alone at that. Even though there were cameras around the cage, other than that, Loki and I were completely alone.

I heard the crinkle of leather and turned to find that he had sat down on a ledge that was set up on the back of the cage so that we could rest.

"Well darling, it appears that it is just you and I now."

"Great." I said more to myself than him. I paused a moment, then said, "I don't suppose I could get you to release me."

He smiled. "And why would I do that?"

"I thought so." I groaned and turned back to studying the glass.

We were quiet for a few more minutes and then to my surprise, I was the one to break the silence.

"Why did you spare me?"

The question came out so fast that it surprised even me but as soon as I said it I realized I wanted an answer.

"Excuse me?"

"The first time I met you, really met you, when we were on that planet, you saw me. Why didn't you tell that creature I was there?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you? You were obviously talking about something that you didn't want anyone to know about and you could have had that creature-"

"The Chitauri."

"Right, that. You could have had it attack me or something. Punish me for intruding on your private business. But you didn't. And even when you came to talk to me you didn't drag me back to it, you told me to leave. Why?"

"Perhaps I did not want to take the trouble to expose you."

_Or maybe you cared_. I thought, but I didn't say it. I was still wrapping my head around the idea that Loki could care. It was a crazy concept, but as I thought back to my first dreams I remembered the little boy with the raven hair.

"You weren't always like this were you?"

"Like what?" Loki asked, arching one perfect eyebrow. "Powerful? Clever?"

"I was thinking more like crazy and power hungry." The words were an automatic response and I tensed, expecting him to hit me, but instead he just tilted his head and studied me, as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"You ask a lot of questions, Midgardian."

"What else do we have to do?" I asked motioning to the cage around us. "We have nowhere else to go. Might as well talk. Get to know each other."

"And what makes you think that I would care to know anything about you?"

"Because I have a feeling that we might have some things in common." The words surprised me, but as soon as I said them I realized that it was true. "That man, the one with the red cape, you know him."

It was like watching a wall go up. Loki's eyes hardened. "I do."

"Is he your friend?"

"No."

"Okay..." I had figured as much from Loki's reaction to seeing him. "Well what is he then? Your cousin? Brother?"

On my last guess something flashed in Loki's eyes and I knew that I had gotten it right.

"If he's your brother, then why do you hate him so much?"

"You really do not want to get into this, Midgardian," Loki said and although I knew his words were meant to scare me off, they only fueled my curiosity.

"You used to play together. When you were little. I saw it."

Loki's head snapped up. "You saw it?"

"Yea.." I paused, wondering for a moment if I should admit it, but I figured I had said enough already. And if I wanted answers from Loki I was going to have to be honest with him. "Some of the first strange dreams I had were about your home. What's it called again?"

"Asgard." Loki said, although the word was forced out from between his teeth.

"Yea, I called it the golden city when I told the stories to my younger brother. It's beautiful."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"Well I thought it was beautiful. And I watched you and the man-"

"Thor."

I nodded. This was good. At least he was filling in the blanks for me, even if he wouldn't add much more than that.

"-you would play together. You were the same age. _Are_ the same age I guess. And you got along. It looked like you loved each other."

_It makes me miss my brother_. I wanted to say, but I didn't. This wasn't about me, it was about Loki and getting him to talk to me.

"We did." Loki said almost grudgingly. "But he is not my brother."

"You just said he was."

"And I also told you that you do not want to get into it. My life is far more complicated than you could ever understand."

"Try me." I said and when he didn't answer I set my fists on my hips and stared him down.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his tone bored.

"I'm being insistent."

"Is that synonymous with irritating?"

"Ha ha," I said drily. "No. This is me being stubborn and showing you that I am not going to take no for an answer. You have already been cryptic enough."

"On the contrary, darling, I apparently have not been cryptic enough, otherwise you would not be asking these questions because you would know I will not answer."

"Alright," I said, "I'll make a deal with you. Instead of me asking about everything, we can do twenty questions."

"I'm afraid I don't follow you, darling."

"For every question I ask you, you can ask me one in return."

"Ahh," he raised an eyebrow again and then paused as if considering it. After a moment he nodded. "Very well. But I do believe that makes it my turn."

"Okay, shoot."

"Where do you come from?"

I hesitated, surprised. I expected for him to ask something about my dreams or even my connection to Fury, not that.

"Um, Chicago. I grew up there."

"I see. And what is your family like?"

"Hey," I said, "that's not how it works, we take turns."

"Yes, but you have already asked more than one question and therefore I must ask more than one also."

This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Alright then. Well, I live with my dad, my step-mom, Sophia, and my little brother, Jacob."

My voice quivered on the last word and I felt the familiar pang shoot through me as I thought about how much I missed my brother.

Loki seemed to notice too and to my surprise his next words were soft. "You care for your brother then?"

I nodded, fighting the tears that were starting to prickle against my eyes. "I miss him."

"And what is this of a 'step-mom'?" he asked and I realized that the word was completely foreign to him.

"Step-mom. I guess you would know it as step-mother. It means that she isn't my real mother, she is just married to my dad."

"Where is your real mother?" he asked and I had to stop myself from physically flinching. It was one thing to talk about Jacob, but my mother was something entirely different.

"You already got your questions," I said, looking down and picking at my nails, "it's my turn."

"Very well."

"Why do you hate your brother?"

"Ahh," he said, leaning back against the glass. "Now there's a question. That should count for two."

"No."

"No?"

"No, you only get one and then we switch, those are the rules."

Loki smiled and leaned forward so that his forearms were resting on his thighs. "But you see, darling, I don't play by the rules. Much less yours."

I rolled my eyes. "Yea whatever."

"Would you like me to answer the question?" His words were light but there was a threat underneath them. I thought for a moment. As much as I did not want to cave to Loki, he had been answering my questions so far and I didn't want to jeopardize that. But then again I was stubborn too. So I decided to meet him in the middle.

"Fine. How about this: you answer the question about your brother and I'll tell you about my mom."

He smiled and I realized that I had made the perfect deal.

"As you wish." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Where we come from, my brother and I were... royalty."

"Were?"

He grit his teeth. "I was never in line to get the thrown, although, as a child, I did not know this. Though I did know that my brother was the favored one. By the kingdom, its subjects, our parents." With each word his voice grew harder but I could also hear the hurt underneath it. He was the younger brother living in the shadow of his football-star brother. I could see how that would make someone mad. In both senses of the word.

Loki had stopped speaking and although I could sense that there was more to it, I didn't push him. He had told me enough.

"I believe that it is your turn, darling."

He really needed to stop calling me that. I took a deep breath and blew it out, running one hand through my hair. "Um, my mom..." This was going to be harder than I thought. I hadn't talked about my mom in over ten years. After I had finally admitted that she wasn't coming back, I hadn't wanted to. But now I forced myself to pull up everything I could remember about her. "Her name was Chloe Everfield. She and my dad met in college. People tell me I look just like her-" I cut off, looking down at my feet. I realized that I was just listing off random facts, not really telling him the story, but the thing was I didn't want to.

"Go on." He said and although I shook my head, he pressed me. "I told you what you wished to know. It is only fair that you do me the same courtesy."

He was right. If I wanted any more answers I would have to start talking.

"She was the kindest person I knew." I said, sighing as the memories overtook me, "Everyone said so too. She was the kind of person who would give up her entire day just to be with you if you needed her. And she was so smart. And curious, just like me." I laughed weakly. "She was fascinated in other cultures. Especially myths. She actually taught a class on mythology at a college near us..." I paused again but this time it wasn't because I had to remember. It was to take a shuddering breath to try and calm my anger. "But you want to know what happened to her? She left us. My dad and I. One day she just... left."

Suddenly it was as if I was four years old again. I heard the creak of the hallway floor and I watched from my bedroom door as my mom made her way downstairs. I thought that she was going to get a drink, but the next morning she wasn't there. And the next day. And the next.

I bit my lip and turned away, staring at the glass again. I stared at my partial reflection and behind me I could see Loki stand and move towards me, stopping just behind my shoulder.

"When did this happen?" he asked softly.

"When I was four..." I said, wiping at my cheek and trying to pretend I was scratching an itch and not wiping away an absent tear. I didn't want to seem weak. Especially in front of Loki. But for the first time I noticed that he was acting different. He wasn't mocking me. In fact, he hadn't said anything during my entire speech.

Slowly, I turned to look at him and for once his gaze was soft. It startled me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like that." I reached up to touch his face, then immediately pulled back my hand as soon as it made contact with his cheek.

There was something in his eyes, something that I couldn't read. And for once, I realized that this didn't scare me at all.


	19. Chapter 17

**Hey guys, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I had to make a decision about college this week and it was stressing the hell out of me. Also I have recently been obsessing over Nathan Skyes (anyone love him as much as me? The Wanted are the shit) so my attention was busy there lol. Someone asked me if I have a tumblr and I actually do :) My regular one is Jennyb793 (A Day in the Life) but if you want, I also have one that is dedicated only to Tom Hiddleston lol that one is imlovingitxoxo (Excuse Me While I Fangirl…). I am not sure how to search it so I gave u guys the names in the url and the names of the pages themselves.  
**

He watched me for a minute, as I had a little internal struggle with myself. Then he spoke. "I did not know that you went through something like that."

"Yea..." I shrugged and crossed my arms, looking away from him. "I don't tell many people."

"Why did you tell me?"

I paused. Why did I tell him? Even if we were playing twenty questions, I didn't have to. He hadn't forced me. Yet I had just opened up my heart and told him the one thing that I never discussed with anyone. I hadn't even talked to my dad about my mom since she left. It hurt him too much and I couldn't bear to see him like that.

"I don't know." I said honestly. Because I couldn't say _I trust you_. That was ridiculous….. right?

After I told Loki the story about my mother I didn't feel like talking anymore. I just kept running over everything he said. So he and his brother were royalty. Made sense. It explained the formal and entitled way that he acted at least. But if he was a prince, what was he doing here? He had his own kingdom; he didn't need to rule Earth. And then there was the issue with Thor. Loki had said that he was his brother one minute and then that he wasn't the next. How was that even possible?

About an hour into our captivity, a guard came into the room.

"Ms. Young?"

I had been so deep in my thoughts that his voice startled me and I jumped.

"Yes?"

"Your uncle wishes to speak with you."

"Really?"

"Yes. Alone if possible."

I turned to Loki but he just shrugged.

"Would you like me to turn around and cover my ears? I will not lift the spell."

This time I glared at him. Then I turned back to the guard.

"It's alright, send him in."

The guard disappeared for a few minutes before returning with my Uncle Phil. He immediately walked up to the glass and smiled weakly, setting his palm against it.

"Hey Cami, how are you doing?"

My heart tugged at the old nickname but I returned the smile to let him know I was okay.

"I'm alright. How is everything out there?"

His face grew serious. "We are doing everything we can to get you out of there."

_How can you? _I wanted to ask but I held my tongue. None of them had magic like Loki, but at least they were trying.

"We are also keeping a close monitor on the cameras in the cage. Has he said anything yet?"

This surprised me. Hadn't they heard our conversation?

"Um, not much," I said, casting a glance over my shoulder at Loki. "He's not much of a talker."

It might have been my imagination but I could have sworn the corners of his lips twitched as if he were trying to keep from smiling.

"Well let us know when he does, alright?" Uncle Phil's face was no longer serious, now he just looked tired. "I'm so sorry, Cami."

"What?" I was startled. "Why?"

"This is all my fault, if I hadn't taken you to that base none of this would have happened."

_Oh_, I thought. Of course he blamed himself for this.

"No, it's alright." I said. "You couldn't have known this would happen."

Military bases were supposed to be some of the most secure places, how could they have foreseen a man literally appearing in the middle of the room? Area 51 was more equip to handle that.

"I'll be okay, I'm tough."

Uncle Phil laughed. "That you are. Just like your mother."

It was meant to be a compliment, but after my conversation with Loki I couldn't help but flinch as if it had stung me.

Uncle Phil didn't appear to notice though. Wow, either I was a fabulous actress or the people around me were just not paying attention.

"Well, Agent Hamile will be back with food in a few minutes." He shot Loki a look. "Although we would rather not give him anything."

"Loki smiled sarcastically. "Charming. Do you treat all of your guests like this?"

"Just our prisoners," Uncle Phil shot back tightly, then he sent me an apologetic look. "I promise I'll have you out soon. Hang in there okay?"

I nodded and watched as he left the room, the metal door hissing shut behind him. The second he was gone I turned back to Loki.

"What did you do to the cameras?"

"I assumed that you did not want anyone to hear our conversation."

"But that's not why you messed with the cameras, is it? What, are you sitting in the corner behaving yourself for once?"

"Standing actually, right there." He pointed across the cage. "And you have your mouth shut. Why don't you try it?"

"You know they are going to kick your ass for that right?" I asked, ignoring him. "They are going to figure it out eventually. Why would you make all that fuss in Germany and then just sit quietly in your cell? You're not that kind of guy."

But then again, how did I know what kind of guy he was? He kept on changing his moods so fast that I had no idea what to expect from him.

"How would you know how I am?" Loki said, voicing my thoughts. "When you are just-"

"If you say 'a mere mortal' I will slap you."

Loki opened his mouth to retort, but we were both distracted as Agent Hamile appeared, followed by two armed guards. He carried two trays in his hand, each piled with food and although Loki's eyes went straight to the meal, mine went to something else. The door. In order to hand us our food, he would have to open the cage. That must have been what the armored guards were for- to ensure that Loki did not escape.

But they didn't have to worry about me escaping because I had no way out. Or did I? As Agent Hamile made his way closer to the cage I began to formulate a plan in my head. I would have just seconds, but if I could pull it off then I would be home free. So as one of the guards pressed a button on the control panel, popping the door open, I took a deep breath and steeled myself.

Agent Hamile set our trays on the ground and as he did so I spun to face Loki. I knew that I had to act fast, so reaching up on my toes I brought his face down to mine and kissed him. I had no idea if this was going to work, but it was my only option. A kiss had made the spell so another kiss hopefully would break it. To my surprise, Loki didn't fight me and when I pulled away a second later I felt as though my lips were buzzing.

I put a hand to my mouth, assuming that it must be the magic, and looked up at him. His eyes were completely unreadable as he gazed down at me and before I could think about it, I turned and darted towards the door. Luckily Agent Hamile must have caught on to my plan because he held the door open and grabbed my arm, yanking me through.

I gasped as I stumbled out of the cage, but it had nothing to do with Loki's spell. I had done it. I was free! I straightened up, my chest heaving and turned to face him. He hadn't moved from his spot, but his eyes were glued on me and to my surprise I saw the corners of his mouth start to turn up.

"Well played, darling." He said with a smile. "Well played."


	20. Chapter 18

**I know I said sorry before about not updating as soon but I'll say it again, SORRY! Haha my bad :p Unfortunately my love has sort of shifted back to Nathan Sykes (anyone love the Wanted? If so we could be best friends) and when my attention shifts I tend to get focused on something else. I am still working on this story though, no worries I won't leave you guys hanging!**

"YOU DID WHAT?

I winced as the whole group seemed to shout at me at once. Should have seen that one coming. I was standing in the middle of the control room- the first place that I had been taken to after I got out of the cage- and was facing the group of superheroes who sat in front of me. It was Thor, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve), Black Widow (Agent Romanov), Dr. Banner (Bruce) and Director Fury. I had finally learned all of their real names and I was glad that I no longer had to keep referring to them by their superhero names.

I sighed. I had not wanted to tell them about the kiss, but Loki had fixed the cameras the second I made a run for it. Go figure.

"It was the way that I could think of to break the spell."

"As disgusting as that is," Tony said, "you have to admit, the girl has balls. I know I wouldn't want to kiss Loki."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks Tony, you're a big help."

He smiled at me, his eyes twinkling with laughter. "Hey, it's true."

"Stark." Agent Romanov said, shooting him a stern look, "I think we have more important things to address here."

"Like what?"

"Like why Loki let her escape." Director Fury cut in and everyone's attention snapped to him. "And what he wants."

"Let me escape?" I said. "Um excuse me, did you watch the tapes? No one let me escape, I got out of there myself." I was a little pissed that he wasn't giving me more credit.

"I did see them." Fury said patiently, "however I doubt someone as powerful as Loki would just stand there and allow you to leave. How could you be sure that the…" He paused uncomfortably. "…kiss… was enough to break that bond?"

"I didn't know." I said, my voice not nearly as patient as his was, "I just took a chance. And obviously it paid off."

"Well I want to know why it did."

_Well I want to go home_, I thought bitterly, but instead I said, "Alright. Fine. How do we figure this out?" The sooner I could answer that question, the sooner I could get out of here.

"_We _don't." Fury said, "You will have no part in this Ms. Young, we can not risk Loki capturing you again."

"Why, cause he could use me?"

Everyone stared at me. I sighed. "I know about my dreams. And I know why Loki wants me so much. He could use me couldn't he? To know what you all have planned."

"What we have planned?" Steve said, looking at Fury, his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Yes." Stark said, swinging his chair to face Fury. "What exactly do we have planned director? Enlighten us."

Fury shot me a look, as if blaming me for this and then ignored them.

"What did he tell you Ms. Young?"

"Nothing," I said. This wasn't entirely true, since he had told me about Thor and his old life, but I figured that wasn't what Fury was asking. "That's just it. Anytime I would ask him anything he would ignore me or change the subject. I hardly think I am someone he confides in."

"Loki's gonna drag this out." Steve said, staring at the screen where we could all see Loki sitting in the cage- whether or not that was really what he was doing, I didn't know. "So…." He looked up, glancing at Thor before his eyes came to rest on me. "What's his play?"

I opened my mouth to repeat that I had no idea, then stopped. "He has an army." I said, thinking back to the visions that Loki had.

"The Chitauri." Thor cut in and I spun to face him. "They're not of Asgard or of any world known."

"Right." I said, remembering the planet that I had been on. The blood red teeth of the creature and the jagged rocks.

"He's going to use them against us." I said, almost to myself. "He wants to lead them."

Thor nodded, his face grave.

"An army." Steve said slowly and I glanced around the room to see that all of the Avengers had the same look on their face. "From outer space."

"So he's building another portal." Dr. Banner said, as if this were common knowledge. "That's what he needs Eric Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor looked confused and I nodded.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Friend?" I said, then I remembered my dreams about New Mexico. Thor had been in them too. "Oh…right."

"He has him under some kind of spell," Agent Romanov said, "along with one of ours." She looked away, her gaze uneasy and I realized that she must have been closer to Hawkeye than any of us realized. But before I could ask anything about it, Steve cut in.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Dr. Banner said and I laughed dryly.

"Yea, that guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him." _Oh to say those words to his face._

"I don't care for how you speak," Thor said, taking a step forward and for the first time I remembered that he and Loki were in fact brothers, "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days." Agent Romanov said and I flinched. _Was that what he was doing while he was gone? _The thought made me sick to my stomach.

"He's adopted…." Thor said, his look suddenly as uneasy as mine.

"I think it's about the mechanics." Dr. Banner said. "The Iridium. What do they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Stark said and my head snapped up from where I had been examining the floor. I had been so busy listening to the others that I hadn't noticed he left until he walked back into the room with my uncle.

Uncle Phil shot me a sympathetic look before going to stand next to Agent Hill.

"Means," Stark continued, "the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."

My hand immediately went to my cut, almost unconsciously. Right. As if I could forget about that.

"Also means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Stark made his way past us and over to the control panels where Fury normally stood. "Um, raise the mission mast, ship the top sails."

The entire room stared at him as if he was nuts, which I wasn't about to put past him. If I hadn't spent the past three days with Loki I would have said he was, but no one could compare to how crazy that man- or I supposed 'god'- was.

"That man is playing Galliga!" Stark said, pointing to one of the workers and I smiled as Steve turned, looking to see who he was motioning to. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

So he wasn't crazy. Just funny. This time a laugh escaped my lips and Stark turned to me and smiled.

"So she does smile. It's nice to see an emotion on you rather than irritation or slightly masked pain."

I stuck out my tongue at him. He returned the gesture, then continued.

"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermo-nuclear-astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked, voicing all of our thoughts. This guy was full of surprises.

"Last night. The packet. Selvig's notes. The extraction theory papers? Am I the only one who did the reading?"

What was this, eight grade English?

"Would Loki need a particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.

Dr. Banner shook his head. "Loki would have to heat the cube to one hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the barrier."

"Unless Selvig has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum toning effect." Stark cut in.

Oh God. My head hurt.

"Well if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion in any reactor on the planet."

It was like watching a ping-pong match between the two smartest men in the room. Stark turned to Dr. Banner and practically glowed with pride.

"Finally, someone who speak English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked and I snickered.

Stark ignored us and walked over to Banner and shook his hand. "It's good to meet you Dr. Banner. Your work on the anti electron collision system is unparalleled. And I am a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Banner pursed his lips. "Thanks."

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube," Fury cut in. "I was hoping you might join him."

"You should start with that stick of his." Steve said. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a hydra weapon."

A what? I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but was cut off by Fury.

"I don't know about that. But it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

Thor's eyebrows creased. "Monkeys. I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve said and the look of pure joy on his face almost made me laugh again. "I… I understood that reference."

Everyone just stared at him for a moment, then I spoke. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing." Fury said, turning to me. "I already said Ms. Young, you are not-"

"Oh I heard what you said," I stated flatly, crossing my arms, "and I also heard what you said about Agent Barton and Dr. Selig. Loki's scepter turned them into zombies. But not me. You saw what happened, how do you figure that I'm fine and they aren't?"

Director Fury didn't have an answer for that, just like I knew he wouldn't and so I pushed on.

"I want to talk to Loki."

"What?" Steve gasped. "You just got out of there and now you want to go back?"

I shrugged. I wouldn't have believed it myself, but about ten minutes ago, I had gotten an idea. "I want to talk to Loki. I think I can get through to him."

"Absolutely not." A voice said and this time I turned to find my uncle standing there with his arms crossed, mirroring me.

"I have to." I insisted. "I am the only one who has a chance of getting through to him."

"You are not willingly putting yourself in danger."

"How can I be in danger when he is still in the cage?"

Uncle Phil paused and I used that moment to finish my argument. "I won't be alone. You can send a guard with me. And if I need any help I promise to call. But I've handled him more than once and I can do it again." This time I turned, locking eyes with Fury. "So let me."

Fury didn't say anything and Stark nodded.

"Alright then, it's settled. Shall we play doctor?"

Banner stepped to the side and motioned to the hall. "Right this way."


	21. Chapter 19

**So I am guessing that I am in big trouble for not updating this in a LONG time. I am so sorry guys. I started college last month and it's been insanely busy so I will not have as much time to write. I also had to go back and reread my entire story since it's been so long (I want to get the details right) and anyone who has read it through (which I love you guys for that!) knows it takes a while. But writing is what keeps me sane so I will try to update as much as possible. Thank you to all the people who started following this story and to everyone who has stuck with me through this couple month break. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! **

**(P.S- If anyone wants a song to listen to during this chapter I had Taylor Swift's new song 'I Knew You Were Trouble' on repeat. It's actually ironically fitting lol)**

Uncle Phil refused to let me go anywhere until I had my hand looked at. I had almost forgotten about my injury but as soon as he pointed it out, my hand started to throb and I looked down to see that the cloth was dirty from blood and dust. I agreed and was lead to the infirmary unit where a nurse re-cleaned my wound and glued the skin back together since luckily it was not quite deep enough to need stitches.

After that I also requested to change out of my clothes since I was still dressed in the ball gown that Loki had provided for me. Since Fury didn't have jeans and a t-shirt, I was given an outfit similar to Agent Romanov's: a black leather suit with a dark purple belt and kneel high black boots. The belt was equipped with a gun holster but no matter how much I begged, Uncle Phil refused to let me have a pistol so eventually I gave in. He was already allowing me to see Loki so I didn't want to push my luck. As we made our way down one of the halls of the compound I caught sight of my reflection in one of the glass windows and had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Now even I looked like a super hero.

I was accompanied by three guards and when we made it to the doors that lead to Loki's prison, we all paused. I turned to Uncle Phil and tried to pretend that I didn't see the worried look on his face.

"Well… here we are." I said, trying to keep my tone light.

Uncle Phil didn't smile.

"I still don't want you to go."

"I know." I said softly. I felt bad. After all that I had put Uncle Phil through- first him believing that I was hurt in the base collapse and then finding out I had been kidnapped by Loki- the last thing I wanted to do was risk hurting him again, but I knew that I had to do this. So far I was the only one that Loki had even remotely opened up to and I had to see what I could find out to help S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I promise that I will be careful." I continued. "I'll have someone with me and you can even watch my through the cameras if you want. I won't go in the cage and I'll call for help if I get in over my head. But I'll be fine. I promise. I've made it this far with Loki and he's going to have to work harder to beat me." I grinned and felt my heart swell as Uncle Phil smiled too.

"Alright." He said softly. He reached out to ruffle my hair and for a moment it was like I was five years old again. "Be careful, Cammi. Okay?"

"Always."

OooooooooooooooooooO

"She returns."

They were the first two words out of Loki's mouth as soon as we walked in. I shot glances at the guards and motioned for them to step back, giving me and Loki as much privacy as possible. I hadn't wanted any company at all- the more people that were there, the less likely it was that Loki would talk openly to me- but I knew that if I had refused there was no way Uncle Phil would have let me go. So I took what I could get.

"Tell me, what is it you want, darling?"

I spun around to find Loki lounging on the ledge in the cage; his back leaned against the glass. He looked calm despite what had happened earlier and I cursed myself for feeling thrown off. How could he be so collected? It made me feel like there was a catch. Like maybe I hadn't won after all.

"Nice to see you again, Loki."

He didn't answer. Just inclined his had politely.

"To what do I owe this visit?"

"Why do I ever talk to you?" I said. "I have questions."

Loki chuckled softly. "Always the curious one. What is it that you mortals say about that? That it kills?"

I nodded. "Something like that."

"Well then it is your risk, not mine. I would tell you it is useless to question me but I do not imagine that you would listen so ask what you like."

"What exactly is your plan?"

I emphasized my words, staring Loki down but he just smiled.

"Now why would I tell you that?"

"Let me guess, it's a surprise?"

"See, you are clever."

"Very funny."

He shrugged. "I refuse to tell you what I have planned, but let's just say that it will be a surprise. For all of you."

"I don't suppose I could persuade you to give up all of this and leave Earth alone?"

He just smirked.

"I didn't think so." I bit my lip and leaned back against the wall, pretending to think. "Alright. So then, let's talk."

"Talk?" Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Like we did earlier."

This time it was Loki's turn to look confused and I reveled in the fact that I could throw him off, if only for a moment. I took a second and gathered my thoughts. Okay so I had made it this far but what was my plan? I honestly had no idea what I planned to say to Loki. We just always seemed to have this playful banter. Going back and forth like a tennis match of wits. But this time the stakes were higher. This time I had to win. And I had to get information out of him without him realizing that I was doing it.

I raised my eyes, taking in Loki's figure as if sizing up an opponent. His gaze met mine, silver against jade and I felt my breath catch. Was this an after effect of the spell? Why was I suddenly finding it so hard to breathe?

Loki raised one eyebrow and smiled. "I am enjoying your outfit. Playing hero now, are we?"

I crossed my arms. I suddenly felt self conscious in my skintight suit, but I was determined not to show it. "You could say that. How am I doing?"

"Oh marvelously." Loki mocked. "Although you have still not broken me and I imagine that I am the villain?"

"You couldn't tell?"

This time he laughed. "Oh how I enjoy your confidence. You stand here, thinking that you have won because you got away. But have you, darling? Really?"

I smiled. So he thought he had me pinned too. That would make things interesting.

"I guess we will just have to see. So are you going to have a real conversation with me or not?" It was a challenged and he rose up to meet it, just like I knew he would.

"Very well then." He said, settling back in his seat. "Let's talk."

_Game on._

**I know that this chapter is shorter, I wrote it a little quickly and later at night (yea midnight is late for me haha I need my sleep) so I was starting to loose my ability to write and knew I needed to speed up. I am sorry if there is not as much to it as you hoped but I wanted to get back into writing and give you guys something to read since everyone has been so eager. I just bought Avengers on DVD so I will go back and get some ideas. I hope you guys enjoyed it and again thank you for all the love! 3 **


	22. Chapter 20

**Hey guys, I know everyone has been asking me to update and I am really sorry that I can't do it more often, college really is kicking my ass (just work and stress and I've been sick a lot too) but I totally appreciate that you guys stick with me and read my story anyways. Updates will come more slowly, but I do promise that they will come so hang with me. To answer the question someone asked me, I do have an idea for a sequel haha and I know people may go nuts about that so I will do my best to finish this one and get that started. Get excited! 3**

While Loki had the ledge to sit on, I didn't know where I should go so after a few seconds of fumbling, I finally settled on leaning back against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest in what I hoped looked like a relaxed pose. I would need all the composure I could get.

Loki sat there for a moment, watching me, then he spoke. "Do you wish to play that game again?"

I shook my head. "Not quite. Now it's more of an. . . interview." I thought about saying i_nterrogation_ but I figured that word would not go over well so I steered clear of it. But unfortunately Loki was as clever as always.

"So you want information from me. You can call it what you like but I know when I am being interrogated, darling. Did the _super heroes_ put you up to this?"

He put emphasis on the words 'super heroes' clearly mocking them.

"No, actually this was my idea. They didn't want me anywhere near you."

"Figures." He said. "I suppose they thought that I would corrupt you."

The way he said the word corrupt made me think he had a different definition and I shivered despite myself.

Loki smiled. "Cold my dear?"

I ignored him, my eyes glued to my arm where I was trying to rub off the goose bumps that dotted my skin. After a moment I looked up to find him watching me expectantly.

"Why did you want me for?" I asked. The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them, and I leaned forward almost as if I could reach out and catch them out of the air.

Loki raised one eyebrow. "I'm sorry?" It was a question. He was asking me to rephrase what I had said even though he knew damn well what I meant.

"Why did you take me? What was I for?" I continued, deciding that despite my slip up I really wanted to know the answer. "I know about my dreams. I understand now."

"Then you know the answer to your question." Loki's tone was bored and he studied his hand, as if he found his fingers more interesting than me.

"No I don't." I said, my voice growing in confidence, "because I don't believe that's the only reason why you took me."

This caught Loki's attention and he raised his head, his eyes locking with mine.

"Your staff didn't work on me. And that should be enough, but it's more than that. I'm stubborn and irritating and persistent. Despite what you said about everyone in your kingdom loving Thor more than you, not many people dared to stand up to you. To a prince. But I do. And I do it without blinking. No matter how many times you hurt me, or threaten me. I am one of the only people who has ever dared to stand up to you. You've never met someone like me. You're fascinated by me." I had no idea where the words came from, but they were not me being cocky. It was a fact. And one that Loki confirmed the second I saw the look in his eyes. For once he was at a complete loss for words.

I leaned back against the wall again, taking a moment to relax gratefully. Maybe I had finally driven him into a checkmate. But my victory was short lived.

"So that was your plan?" Loki asked. "To march in here like a hero and show everyone how you can match me at my own game? My dear, you misjudge me. You have no idea how many years I have had to perfect this method. Manipulation is not something that is new to me. I invented it."

_Shit._ I could feel my smile begin to drop.

"Did you think that you were the key?" Loki continued. "That you would speak with me for a few moments and I would tell you everything? After everything you did, you'd appear as a friend? As a bomb? And I would cooperate?"

"I am the only one you seem to talk to." I said, shrugging casually and trying to hide the fact that he was throwing me off guard. I still had questions that I needed answered, I couldn't lose his attention now.

"What did you do to Agent Barton?" I blurted out. It was a rash move. If Loki really was onto what I was doing then there was a chance that he wouldn't answer this, or any other questions I had. But luckily he was feeling cocky so he answered my question with a smile, as if he was proud of what he had done.

"I'd say I've expanded his mind."

"And once you've won." I said. "Once you're king of the mountain, once happens to his mind?"

I was afraid of what his answer would be, but I knew I had to know. For myself. For S.H.E.I.L.D. But even more so, for Agent Romanov. I had seen the look in her eyes anytime someone mentioned Barton's name. There was some connection between them, something that ran deeper than any of the rest of us could understand. And I knew she would want to know as much as I did.

"We'll just have to see won't we?"

I could have hit him for being so cryptic.

"So what does that mean?" I asked harshly. "You're going to kill him?"

"Kill him? What does it matter to me what happens to him?" He said the words as if they were nothing. Like he was talking to me about the weather and not the fact that he planned to dispose of someone once they weren't of use to him anymore. "And why does it matter so much to you? You speak as though you are so noble, yet you are no more virtuous than I am."

"What?"

Loki's smile widened and I could tell that he was pleased to have thrown me off.

"You think that you are the hero? That any of you are the heroes? How naïve of you. This group, these people that you have just met, do you have any idea what they will make you do? They are murders. They lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. And if you join them then you will be nothing more than a tool for them to use to get their way. A puppet. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something to make up for the horrors. But they will never go away."

"Oh and I am the only one whose moral code is a little off balance?" I snapped, suddenly angry. "You're a monster."

The words were meant to be biting, but unfortunately he just smiled, his eyes full of triumph. "Oh no, you hold the monster."

"What?" I whispered. Then suddenly it clicked. "The Hulk." I said softly, remembering a conversation I had overheard about Barton, "that's your weapon? You're going to use him against us?"

I shot the guards a silent look and they nodded, exiting the room. I hope they had gotten my hint to go inform Fury.

"What a clever girl you are." Loki said, smiling proudly as if he were the one who had taught me to put the pieces together.

"My God, you're insane." I said. "Where does all of this hate come from? Is it really because of your childhood?" I wasn't sure that my next words were wise but I pushed on anyways. "You said that your parents loved Thor more than you. I'm not sure I believe you."

His gaze was suddenly hard. "And why is that?"

"Because I've seen the way Thor acts and I've seen the way that you act. Underneath all of that anger and hate. Your parents can't be that bad of people if they raised you and Thor because you both turned out okay."

_Well that last part was up for debate._ Loki snorted, as if he had read my mind.

"It's not too late." I said softly. "You can fix this. You can stop it."

Loki looked up at me and for a moment I thought I saw something in his eyes. Something real. Then the wall was back up.

"Do you really believe that?" He asked.

The tone of his voice told me that he didn't himself.

"Yes." I said and it startled me to realize that my words were true. That I wanted them to be true, with everything I had. I didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere along the line I had started to feel for Loki. To see a side of him that was so far from the crazy man that sat before me and to hope that I could somehow help him. I wanted to be strong enough to fix him.

"Stop this." I said softly, almost pleading with him. "Please."

"I'm sorry, darling." He said and for a second I thought I actually saw remorse flash through his eyes. Then there was a giant crash and the ship tipped to the side, throwing me to the floor. "But it's already too late."

**Was the word 'corrupt' a sexual reference? I don't know. Maybe. Pervy minds ;p So the more I write, the more I realize how much I like Camilla's character. (You would think I planned this all out but I didn't completely, I just write and it comes to me as I go) She reminds me of when I was little and I used to have dreams where I was always a stronger/braver/smarter version of myself and where I stood up to anyone who messed with me. Anyone else know what I mean? On another note, I decided to switch Black Widow's scene to Camilla, it just worked out in the plot better and helped move this chapter forward. Hope you guys liked it!**


	23. Chapter 21

"What did you do?!" I gasped, pushing myself off the ground. A trickle of blood ran down my cheek, but I wiped it away, already scrambling to my feet. Above me emergency lights flashed throwing puddles of red light across the room and sirens blared so loud that it made my ears ring. But the sirens weren't loud enough to drown out the sound that came next. The sound of a roar.

I felt my heart stop.

The Hulk.

Loki laugh softly behind me but I didn't even give him a second glance before I was off and running.

The force of the explosion had dented the door but I manage to pry it open, tumbling out into the hallway. All around me was chaos. People ran back and forth, some carrying guns, some just looking panicked.

_**All hands to stations! **_A voice screamed over the speaker system.

I spun in circles, trying to figure out which way to go, then took off towards the control room. If I had thought there was chaos in the halls that was nothing compared to how much was going on there. People ran back and forth, practically tripping over one another as they relayed information and typed furiously at the computers, trying to fix whatever had gone wrong. I caught sight of Agent Hill but she ran by me so fast that it literally spun me around, knocking me against a rail.

"Shit!" I said as I reached out to steady myself.

Another agent went to go past me but this time I reached out, stopping him. He turned to me, his eyes wide and panicked but I shot out my question before he could run away.

"What's going on?"

"There was an explosion." He said, his voice rushed and breathless as if he had just run a mile. "Something was damaged-"

"Something was damaged?" I repeated. "What? What was damaged?"

But before I could even finish my sentence he had already pulled away.

Damn it! How could I help if I had no idea what was going on?

I leaned against the rail for a moment, surveying the scene, then I caught sight of a face I knew.

"Uncle Phil!"

I gasped, reaching out to grab his arm as he breezed past me. "What's going on? What happened?"

"Cami!" His eyes met mine briefly before they swept the room. He was in a rush just like everyone else. "Stay here!"

"What?" I said, even as he pushed me gently to the side. "I want to help! What can I do?"

"No!" He said firmly. "You are not doing anything. You stay here, you understand?"

"But-"

"Camilla that is an order!" He snapped and I froze, startled at his tone. He noticed my look and shook his head, his voice softening. "I'm sorry. Just please. Stay here."

He gave my arm one last squeeze and then he was gone.

I blinked, my eyes trained on the doorway even after he was out of sight. Stay here? How could I? I had no idea what exactly had happened but something was wrong. The ship was damaged and I would not just stand here like a wallflower. So I picked a hallway and took off running again.

OooooooooooO

I figured my best bet was to follow the smell of burning metal so I fought my way back through the halls, dodging men and women as they ran past me towards the control room.

About halfway down the hall smoke began to cloud the air and I knew I was in the right place. Then I saw it. Light. At the end of the hall there was a gash torn into the side of the ship and just beyond that I could see clouds and the open sky.

_Oh shit. _

The smell of burning rubber and metal was so thick that I had to cover my mouth and I ran down the hall nearly bumping into some men. They were all wearing masks and two of them helped support a third man between them, his legs hanging limply as if he had no control over them. He must have been hurt in the explosion. I took in the sight of them, my mind racing, then my eyes dropped to their masks.

An idea formed in my mind and before I had time to even think about it I was moving. I turned to the three men, my lungs already starting to burn from the thinning air. At first they looked startled to see someone so young, then their faces turned stern.

"Miss, what are you doing here?" One man said, keeping one arm around the injured worker as he took a step forward, "You need to go back to the main deck."

He tried to turn me around, but I shrugged him off, ignoring his words.

"Do you need this?" I asked but I didn't even wait for him to answer before I snatched off his mask.

"Hey!" He said but by the time he had wiped the shocked look off his face, I was running again.

"Sorry!" I called over my shoulder, yanking the mask over my face. Then a second later I was out in the open air.

The wind outside the ship was so strong that for a moment it whipped my hair over my face but I wiped it away and finally was able to survey the damage.

It was bad.

All around me was jagged broken metal; as if something had taken a bite out of the ship, and as I lifted my head I could see fire licking its way across the roof.

"Oh shit." I whispered, my hands wrapping around a latter next to me in a white knuckled grip, until I heard a voice I recognized.

"Camilla?"

I turned my head to find Steve standing behind me his eyes wide. "What are you doing here? You have to go back inside!" He made a move to grab my arm but I brushed him away.

"What can I do?"

"Do?"

"Yes, do!" I shouted, partially to be heard above the wind and partially because I was so fed up with people treating me like I was five. "I want to help!"

"Well we could use all the help we can get." A voice came from behind me and I didn't have to even finish turning around to know who it was.

"Thanks, Stark." I said, smiling as I took in his iron suit. "Nice superhero outfit."

"I try." He said and I swear I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

Hear him? I blinked in surprise and touched my ear as I suddenly realized that Stark had not spoken out of his suit, but through the ear piece Fury had given me along with my uniform. I had almost forgotten about it.

"Now," Stark said, turning his attention to the side of the ship, "let's see what we got." He studied the twisted metal for a moment, then began to speak rapidly.

"I have to get the super conducting cooling system back online before we can access the rotors."

He was going into his genius babble again and I went to tune him out before his last words caught my ear.

"Wait, rotor?"

I took a second look at the side of the ship and through the metal and debris I caught sight of something I recognized: a propeller.

"This is one of the engines!"

"Yes." Stark said, his voice slow and patient as if he were talking to a five year old. "It is. Now you," he pointed at Steve "I have to work on dislodging the debris. But I need you to get up there to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overdrive."

He pointed and I followed his gaze to a broken piece of railing about twenty feet away and fifty feet above us.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard to reach." I muttered sarcastically.

"What are you talking about, red?" Stark said, my soft tone apparently carrying across the open air to him. "You aren't doing anything. Just stay put."

"But you just said I could help!" Now I really did sound like a five year old. I bit my lip and crossed my arms, trying a different approach instead. "Look, I can't prove to you guys that I am good enough to help if you never give me the chance to. What can I do?"

Stark looked at me and for a second I swore he was going to brush me off again but his next words surprised me.

"Alright. Fine. You want a job? Keep watch."

"Watch?" I felt like a parrot. "Watch for what?"

"For whoever or whatever did this." He said, motioning to the debris all around us. "I have a feeling they aren't far behind."

"Great." I said softly, watching as Steve jumped inhumanly high to grab one of the rails above us and swing to the control panel. He disappeared from sight but after a moment I heard him call out.

"It seems to run on some form of electricity."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes and tilted my head up to try and see Steve but there was a crackling sound and I spun my head just in time to watch as giant pieces of metal broke away from the engine and tumbled towards the ground.

All way down, forty thousand feet.

I gulped and reached out, groped for the ladder again, trying to ignore the sudden pounding in my head. God I hated heights.

"Okay the relays are intact!" Steve said, his voice crackling through my earpiece and bringing me back to the reality.

"What's our next move?" I asked touching my ear to make sure I spoke into my mic.

"Even if I clear the rotors this thing won't reengage without a jump." Stark said.

He paused and everyone was silent. Then I filled in the blank for him.

"You're going to get in and push the propellers."

"If that thing gets up to speed you'll get shredded!" Steve said and despite any negative energy I had sensed between him and Stark earlier I could hear the fear in his voice. He was worried for Stark.

"That standard control unit can release the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that should-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked at the same time that Steve said: "Speak English!"

Even through the earpiece I could hear Stark sigh.

"See that red lever? It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word."

There was the sound of footsteps and a second later Steve was flying through the air, landing on another platform above me.

I bit my lip in frustration for once wishing that I had some sort of powers. I felt so useless right now.

"Camilla, look out!"

I heard Steve shout and a second later something exploded in the air about ten feet below us.

"Shit!" I swore, ducking my head. "What the hell was-"

But I didn't have time to finish my sentence before I heard footsteps. I turned to find three men behind me. All in full gear. All carrying guns.

One of the men swiped at me but I ducked and the momentum of his fist carried him forward. I took advantage of the fact that he was off balance and straightened, ramming my elbow into his back so that his face connected with the latter. He groaned and crumpled to the ground.

I smiled. Maybe I could be of some use after all. But my victory was short lived. One of the other men came up behind me and before I could react he had grabbed my arm. I tried to pull away but his grip was too strong. Then I heard Steve's voice.

"Duck!"

I did what I was told and I barely had time to get my head out of the way before Steve's feet connected with the man's face, knocking him away from me. Another soldier came to take his place but Steve grabbed him, this time flipping the man straight into the air where he hung frozen for a moment before plummeting towards the ground.

There was the sound of gunfire and I dropped to the ground, covering my head as Steve swung back onto one of the upper platforms to take cover. The bullets ricocheted off the railings and I lifted my head just enough to see the soldier that stood in the doorway firing at us.

"Shit!" I searched the ground, looking for something- anything- that we could defend ourselves with and my eyes fell on the gun that one of the men had dropped. Before I could think, I lunged for it.

"Steve!" I called out and luckily he seemed to know what I was thinking because he caught the gun the second I threw it into the air. Then he began to return the fire.

The man retreated back and I sighed. At least for a moment we were safe. Then there was a creaking sound and the whole ship began to tip.

I gasped as I was thrown to the side, trying to grab onto something, but there was nothing to hold.

Then my feet left the ground.

I screamed as I tumbled backwards right off the side of the ship, my hands scraping at thin air. I caught sight of something red out of the corner of my eye and managed to grab a hold of the power cable just before I plummeted towards the ground.

"Camilla!" Steve shouted, but one of the soldiers made a swipe at him, momentarily distracting him.

"What's going on?" I heard Stark's voice come through the earpiece but I was too busy adjusting my grip on the rope. I was literally holding on for deal life. "Cap, hit the lever."

I heard a thud and a shout from one of the soldiers. Then Steve's face appeared over the rail. He looked terrified. But this time it was for me.

"I need a minute here!" He said, then he called out to me.

"Hold on Camilla!"

"I'm trying!" I called back, tightening my grip until my knuckles went white. This could not be happening. It was literally my worst nightmare. I close my eyes for a moment but that only increased the feeling that I was falling so I quickly opened them again, watching as Steve made his way down the ship, as close to me as he could get.

A gust of wind picked up and I screamed as I was jerked to the side, almost losing my grip on the cable.

"I'm coming, Camilla!" Steve shouted. "Hold on!"

There was a jerk on the rope and for a second my heart stopped and I thought the cable was going to break. But then I was being towed back towards the ship. The second I got within arms reach Steve grabbed me and I gasped holding onto him for dear life.

"Oh my God." I breathed, burying my face in his arm and his grip on me tightened.

"Shh," he said softly, pressing his nose into my hair, "I got you. I got you. You're okay.

"Thank you!" I looked up and for a second our eyes met. I felt a jolt of electricity shoot through me as I saw the look in his eyes: a mixture of fear, relief and… something else. Something that made my heart rush. Then Stark's voice crackled through the earpiece, breaking our moment.

"Lever. Now!"

"Oh shit!" I said and Steve jumped up, lunging for the control and flipping the switch.

Over the propeller I could hear the sound of crashing metal and my heart jumped to my throat. Were we too late? I leaned against the rail, for a moment ignoring my fear as my eyes swept the sky, searching for Stark. I didn't have to wait long though before he appeared, whipping straight past us.

I jumped back in surprise and watched as he tackled a soldier that I hadn't even known was there. Everything was quiet for a moment, then I heard Stark groan.

"Your welcome for that, by the way."

I sighed. He was okay.

**Gahh this chapter did not flow as well as I wanted it to (it's a picky writer thing) but it is a lot longer than I have done in a while so I hope you guys enjoyed that! I originally planned to have Camilla go with Natasha but I have a different idea that connects to the sequel instead :) Plus I wanted to get in some more Camilla & Steve time. Come on, Cap has to get some love. I could not have been the only one in that theater wishing I could be his girl (sorry Peggy, you're dead. He's mine now ;p) Maybe I'll just add myself in there as his love interest haha that's the beauty of being an author****.**


	24. Chapter 22

**So I guess Peggy is alive (my bad!) I haven't watched the special features on my DVD yet so I assumed she was dead. But I still love Cap either way. Okay so now I am going to try something I haven't done, which is reply to people! I need to do this more…**

**Dontgotaclue88****- Haha me or Camilla? Yea I definitely have a crush on Captain America **** Chris Evans has been my celebrity crush for forever**

**Ellize Avalon****- Sorry for the lack of fluff! I promise some will come soon. And especially in the sequel, I'm just trying to stay true to the Avengers plot and so it doesn't leave a ton of room for Cami & Loki to be alone but I will fit something in ;) **

**MisLG****- No problem! Haha stalk away, please. My favorite part of posting new chapters is waking up to reviews from you guys! You can never review too much trust me. **

**So if you review I may reply now :) (haha if that is any incentive to review). Oh and I decided that Stark's nickname for Cammi is 'red' since she has auburn hair. So you will probably see that again. Enjoy!**

"Is everyone okay?" Steve asked although his eyes were still glued on me.

I nodded and shifted my position, leaning forward to get a better look at Iron Man.

"Everything in one piece, Stark?"

I heard him groan. "Too soon to tell."

He pushed himself off the ground and turned to face us, sliding the front of his mask up so that we could see his face.

"What about you guys? Why the delay?"

"Camilla almost fell off the side of the ship." Steve said, his voice grave.

"Wow. Okay." Stark turned to me. "You okay, red?"

I nodded, touching a hand to my head as if to check if it was still there. "Yea." I said slowly, "I think so."

Suddenly my earpiece crackled to life.

"Camilla we need you in the lock down room, now."

It was Fury and his voice sounded panicked.

"What?" I asked, touching a hand to my ear. "What's happened? Is something wrong?"

I had no idea what he wanted, but whatever it was it must have been serious. I waited for an explanation and his next words made my blood run cold.

"Agent Coulson is down."

"What?" I literally felt my heart stop. "No."

I turned to Steve, my eyes wide with panic. Then I jumped up and took off running.

OoooooooooO

I made it to the detention room in less than five minutes, but every second felt like an eternity.

"No." I just kept whispering to myself. "No. No. No. No."

I shot down the hall so fast that by the time I reached the broken door I skidded to a stop, my feet slipping out from under me. I managed to catch my balance, but not before banging my shoulder into the side of the door. I winced and closed my eyes but ignored the pain, rushing into the room.

The first thing I noticed was the gaping hole in the middle of the room. The cell was gone. Then the smell of blood hit me. I pushed past some agents, not even bothering to excuse myself, only determined to find my uncle. To know he was okay. Then I saw him.

My uncle was sitting, propped against the wall, his head leaning heavily against his shoulder. His eyes were glassy and in the middle of his chest was a gaping wound, covered in blood that soaked his shirt.

"No!" I whispered, the one word breaking as I dropped to my knees in front of him. "Uncle Phil!"

Fury was there and he took a step back as my uncle's eyes moved to me.

"Cammi." His voice was weak but he still managed to smile. "You're okay."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"You didn't stay put, did you?"

I shook my head, laughing through the tears that ran down my face. "You know me. I always seem to get into trouble."

Uncle Phil laughed too, although it came out in more of a wheeze. "That is very true. I'm just glad you are safe."

His last words made me burst into tears, sobs rocking my body.

"What about you?"

"Me?" He smiled again. "This is nothing. Just a scratch."

"You'll be okay though, right?" I asked. My words came out as a plea but one look at his wound and I knew they meant nothing. He had lost a lot of blood.

"I'm not too sure, Cammi. I might be clocking out."

"No!" I sobbed. "You can't. Please."

Uncle Phil's smile turned sad and he reached out, gently touching my cheek. "It's alright. This never would have worked if they didn't have something to believe in. Help them, Cammi. Show them. You're strong and I am so proud of- of-"

He stumbled on the last word, pulling in a few shattered breaths, but he never got to finish the sentence before his chest went still.

I gasped, falling back. This could not be happening. This was not happening. I was asleep and tomorrow I would wake up and Uncle Phil would be there with that shy smile, offering me breakfast and trying so hard to bond with me. The worst thing was though; it was actually starting to work. I had started to form a relationship with my uncle again. And now he was gone.

"Camilla?" Fury's voice was soft behind me and I felt his hand on my shoulder. "The medical examiners need to take a look at him now."

"What is there to look at?" I said softly, my voice hitched and swollen from crying. "He's gone."

I rocked back onto my heels and stood up, wrapping my arms around my stomach as if that would somehow fix the empty feeling growing inside of me.

The medical crew bent down in front of him and sure enough a few minutes later they nodded. Fury sighed sadly and lifted a hand to his earpiece.

"They called it."

I took in a shuttering breath, those three worlds breaking me apart. For a moment I wondered if I was going to be sick. I turned to flee the room, but ran straight into someone's chest. One look at the red, white and blue outfit and I knew who it was.

"Steve." I wrapped my arms around him and sobbed, allowing him to fold me into his chest.

"Shhh." He soothed and I felt him gently help me forward, steering me out of the room and back into the hall. Once we were alone he gently untangled himself from me, holding me away from him but never once letting go. "I am so sorry, Camilla."

"He's gone." I said, as if everyone didn't already know that. "I just met him again and now he's gone."

"I know the feeling." He said softly and the pain in his voice was so intense that I stopped crying for a moment.

"You lost someone too?"

"I'm a soldier." He said, his lips drawn into a thin line. "I've lost a lot of people."

His eyes were a million miles away and I had a feeling that there was more to it than he was letting on but I didn't push. Sometimes people just needed time to grieve. God knows I knew that feeling.

For a moment I thought about all of the people that I had lost in my life. My grandparents, my mother, and now my uncle…. A whole side of my family that just disappeared.

"Yea," I muttered weakly, "join the club."

"I wish I didn't have to," he said and although my eyes had ben trailed on the ground, I lifted my gaze to his. Our eyes locked and I felt it again. The buzz that hung thick in the air as if there were electricity jumping between us. Steve must have felt it too because his eyes widened. It was as if we were connected. And this time there was no one there to stop us.

His lips met mine and it happened so fast that I honestly had no idea who leaned forward first. I tasted salt on his lips and it was only then that I realized he had been crying too. He needed this as much as I did.

My breath hitched in my throat and I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him. His embrace was huge, his arms practically swallowing me up but I didn't care, I felt safe. He moved his mouth frantically against mine; kissing me as if I was his only way to get out his emotions and he would drown if he let go of me. For that moment we were each other's lifelines.

By the time we pulled away I was breathless. I lifted a hand to my mouth and then my cheek, surprised to feel that although I could still feel the tracks of salt, my tears had dried. Steve looked startled too, his chest rising and falling as if he had just run a marathon. For a moment we just started at each other. Then he spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Camilla."

Sorry? For what, the kiss? I opened my mouth to say something but his next words stopped me cold.

"I promise we will find Loki and make him pay for what he did."

"Loki?" My voice came out as a squeak. "He did this?"

Steve looked at me in confusion, his expression turning concerned as if he was worried that I was losing my mind. Who knows, maybe I was. I had no idea why it had not occurred to me that Loki was the one who had just destroyed my world. I was so busy mourning the death of my uncle that it never once occurred to me to wonder _how_ it happened. I guess in the back of my mind I hoped it had been a piece of fallen debris. An accident. But it was no accident. It was a murder.

"Oh my God," I whispered, taking a step back. All of the engines were fixed so why was the ship suddenly tilting again?

"Camilla?" I heard Steve's voice but it was far away, as if we were standing on opposite sides of a tunnel. "Are you alright?"

"I don't feel good." I said weakly. I stumbled a few steps back. Then everything went black.

**Wow. This chapter was so sad! I legitimately almost cried writing it :( Another cliff hanger! Hope you guys like it! Review and let me know (pretty pretty please) Remember I take requests too if you have any ideas. **


	25. Chapter 23

**My little sister is so cute! I told her that we are going to plan a sleepover at my dorm soon and her first request was that we watch Avengers (I love my family). How is everyone else doing? Thanks for the reviews! Here are some comments:**

**f****aeriemaiden96-**** Trust me I wanted Coulson to live too :( But he has to die for something in the sequel. I promise he won't be gone for long. **

**MisLG****- Thank you! I want to be a legitimate author so it means so much to me that you guys like my writing :)**

**Kamryn The Wanderer**-** Hahah oh my gosh I love you so much. You basically spammed me with comments on every chapter and it literally made my day :) Yea I actually may create another story (whether its in the sequel or another one entirely) with Steve and a character who is based off me (not to be vain, I just want to be with Cap) We will see what I have time to write**

**Oh and I was watching the Avengers gag reel and does anyone else love the fact that Tom Hiddleston plays the villain in this movie yet in real life he's like literally the sweetest person ever? Damn he is a good actor. **

When I woke up I had no idea what was going on. I was lying in a bed, the clean crisp sheets identical to ones that you would find in a hospital. I groaned and lifted my head, still a little disoriented. There was no one around, but I could hear voices coming from down the hall, drifting in through the open door. What was going on? I pulled myself into a sitting position and groaned, touching my head.

Then it all came back to me.

The fight, the engine, my uncle…

I doubled over, gasping and fighting my nauseous stomach. No. I could not get sick. Not now. Not after what happened. I forced myself to remember what my uncle had said. I was strong. I had to be strong.

Luckily whoever had taken care of me had not taken off my outfit- the last thing I needed was to be in a hospital gown- so I didn't have to hunt around for my clothes. I pushed myself off the hospital bed and crept to the door, which was still partially open. There was no one in the hall but I could still hear the sound of voices so I made my way in the direction that they were coming from.

The hospital room was in a wing that I did not recognize but it didn't take me long to find my way. I ended up outside the control room-no surprise- and was about to make my way inside when I heard my name.

"Is she alright?" I recognized Steve's voice immediately.

"Yes Captain," a voice said, this time Fury. "The medics said she will be just fine. Although I am not sure that it does me much good to have someone faint on the deck after all of this. How can we trust her to be of any help when she drops like that?"

"She just lost her uncle." Steve said. His voice was sharp and my heart swelled as I heard him stick up for me. "She watched him die right in front of her eyes."

"Well we've all lost someone I'm sure, but you have to be strong after it happens and move o-"

"You don't have to lecture me," Steve snapped, cutting him off, "I've had my fair share of loss."

This time his words made my heart ache. I thought of all of the people he must have lost, not only as a soldier but after all of this time. The people he loved were born over eighty years ago. By now they were either long gone or barely old enough to still be holding on. Of course he knew about loss.

"That's the issue with being a soldier." Fury said softly.

I had been crouching by the side of the door but by then my knees were getting numb, so I straightened up and walked into the room.

"But I'm not a soldier." I said, looking Fury squarely in the eyes as I stepped into view. He looked startled but at least he had the decency not to say anything. "And I have no intention to be one. My uncle just died in front of my eyes." My gaze swung to Steve as I repeated what he had said earlier. "So of course I am going to be upset, but that doesn't mean I'm weak. I want to fix this…."

My gaze dropped to the floor and I felt my heart squeeze as I realized that there might not be a way to. My uncle was gone. And nothing I could do would bring him back. But I remembered the way he had looked at me in the last seconds before he had died. That hope he had in his eyes. He believed in me. So I squared my shoulders and lifted my head again, finishing strong.

"And I will fight."

Fury was still silent, but he nodded. "Well we will see how easy that is."

He paused for a moment before reaching into the pocket of his coat.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them."

He tossed some cards onto the table and I recognized Steve's face, now splattered with my uncle's blood. I gulped, swallowing back tears and nausea for the third time that day.

"We're dead in the air up here," Fury continued. "Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor…. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye."

He looked down at the table and shook his head. "Knew I had that coming."

I bit my lip to keep from lashing out at him. If he knew he had that coming then why hadn't he done anything? Why hadn't he kept my uncle from confronting Loki and saved him? But even as the thought crossed my mind I knew it was no use. My uncle was every bit as stubborn as I was, although he hid it under a well-polished professional façade. Once he put his mind to it, there would have been no stopping him.

"Yes." Fury continued and although his next words caught me off guard, they did not surprise me. "We were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put my chips all on that number though cause I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this-"

He glanced at Stark but Tony wouldn't even lift his eyes. His gaze was locked squarely on the table as if he didn't have the will to look anyone in the eye.

Fury continued, "-called the Avengers initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people. See if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea."

"In heroes." I said softly, because suddenly it all made sense. Why he had confronted Loki, why he had reminded me of how strong I was and why he had told me to help them. He believed in the Avengers. They were his heroes.

I heard the sharp screech of a chair and turned, startled, as Stark shot up. He stood there for a moment, frozen, then he turned and walked right out of the room.

Fury sighed. "Well, it's an old fashioned notion."

These last words he tossed over his shoulder and I could practically see them hit Steve. Maybe the notion wasn't so old fashioned for all of us.

It hadn't been for my uncle.

Suddenly I felt the need to be away from there. So I shoved back my chair and stood up, grasping the side of the table as I almost lost my balance.

"Um, I'm going to find Stark." I said, my words coming out in such a rush that I wondered if Fury was even able to understand them, but I didn't care. In fact the words had barely left my mouth before I turned and was moving. I heard the scrape of another chair and then Steve spoke too.

"I'll go with her."

Guess I wasn't the only one who needed to breathe.

OooooooO

I knew where Stark would go but I still paused in front of the steel doors, my body unwilling to move any further. It must have been hours since I had been in this room but the pain was still fresh and I blinked hard, fighting back tears.

"You don't have to do this." A voice said and I turned to Steve, wiping at my cheek and trying to pretend like I wasn't upset. As if I could fool him.

"It's fine," I said, the words meant to convince myself just as much as him. It was a lie but I knew that I had to be okay. I had told Fury that I was going to be strong and I would be. For Uncle Phil and for the rest of my family. Because whatever Loki was planning, it was big and I had a feeling that my dad, Sophia and Jacob were in just as much danger as any of us were. And there was no way I would let anything happen to them.

Slowly I walked into the room, forcing myself not to look at the place where my uncle's body had sat slumped, although I could see a stain of blood out of the corner of my eye. Stark was there, just as I knew he would be. I didn't say anything as Steve and I walked in and Stark didn't even lift his eyes. His gaze was glassy and vacant, his eyes focused on the empty space where the cage once sat.

We all stood there silently for a moment, no one willing to speak. Finally I felt Steve take a deep breath next to me.

"Was he married?" he asked and although I knew the answer I let Stark reply. I knew that Steve was trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in and I needed to focus almost all of my energy not to slip into the same state of depression.

"No." Stark said, his eyes still glued on the ground. "There was a, uh, cellist I think."

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man."

Stark laughed softly and finally lifted his gaze to us.

"He was an idiot."

The words stung like a physical blow and had to bite the inside of my cheek hard to keep from lashing out at him.

"Why?" Steve asked and I let him speak, knowing that I would regret whatever I said later. "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job." Steve answered at the same time that I snapped.

"He was saving your ass."

Stark's eyes swung to me, but he didn't take back his words. For a moment our eyes stayed locked, neither of us willing to say anything. Stark was the first to break the stare.

"He was out of his league," he said softly, "he should have waited."

"But he didn't." I said coldly. As if any of us needed reminding of how that had turned out.

"He should have-" Stark started to say but Steve cut him off.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Ah right," Stark laughed but there was no humor in it, just a dry dead sound. "I've heard that before."

He went to move past both of us, but Steve's next words stopped him.

"Is this a first time you lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers!"

Stark whirled on him, his eyes wild and although his words were not a shout, I felt them vibrate through my body.

He was right. It was just like I had said to Fury. We weren't. We were just a group of people brought here against our wishes and thrust into a fight that we never asked for. And after all of this Fury expected us to play by some hidden set of rules. Well I wasn't buying into it.

"I'm not marching to Fury's fife anymore." I said, my words sharp and final. "I'm not a puppet."

"None of us are." Steve said softly. "Fury has the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we have to put that behind us and get this done."

I nodded and Steve continued talking, but Stark wasn't looking at us anymore, he was looking at the stain on the wall.

"Now Loki needs a power source. If he-"

"He made it personal."

"What?" Steve cut off his sentence, staring at Stark like he was insane. "That's not the point."

"No…" I said softly, touching Steve's arm to motion for him to listen. "That is the point. That's what Loki does."

Stark nodded. "He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart." Steve said and I nodded.

"Divide and conquer."

I could practically see the wheels turning in Stark's head. "Yeah that's great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? _That_'s what he wants. He wants to beat us. He wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Of course." I said softly, watching as Stark paced back to where he had been standing. "He wants attention."

I thought back to what Loki had told me about his life in Asgard. How Thor had been the favored one. Was he so hungry for attention that he was willing to hurt people to get it? I was starting to believe that fact more and more with each passing day.

"Right." Steve said as both of us turned to listen to Stark. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

_Stuttgart. _An image flashed into my head of the emerald dress I had been forced to wear. Had that really been less than a day ago? It felt like another lifetime.

"Yeah. That's just previews," Stark said and by now I was starting to see where he was going and was able to finish his sentence.

"This is opening night."

Stark nodded. "And Loki, he's a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument build in in the skies with his name plastered-"

He stopped and his eyes widened.

"Son of a bitch."

**So I was reading through some old fanfics and I found the one that actually inspired my story. Everyone needs to go read this now cause its AMAZING! This story is probably my favorite Loki fanfic & the reason I named my main character Camilla. Actually this author in general just writes amazing fanfics so look at all of her stuff. The story is called Cold Fire and its by LightningRapunzel. After reading her stuff I feel slightly inadequate in my fanfic hahah but I'm working on it. **


	26. Chapter 24

**Okay so everyone needs to go watch this youtube video. I do not watch Dr. Who but this is a Loki/Rose crossover and I personally am IN LOVE with the song. I watch this when I write my fanfic and it always gives me inspiration. Search "****Loki and Rose || Shouldn't be a good in goodbye" on youtube and ****let me know what you guys think! **

"What?" I asked for what felt like the millionth time. Stark had not stopped pacing since his last comment and I practically wanted to strangle him for not telling us where his train of thought had lead. As it was I had to keep my hands balled at my sides to keep from shaking him.

"My tower." Stark said, almost to himself.

"Your tower?"

"Yes my tower."

I waited but he didn't elaborate.

"Okay Stark, that's great but I'm going to need you to elaborate a little bit on that." I said through clenched teeth, my frustration starting to get the better of me. "Not all of us are super geniuses and I can't read your mind."

"My tower." Stark said, finally turning to look at me. Stark Tower. It's one of my projects, a high rise that I built in New York."

"So, what you think Loki is going to use it for something?"

"Not just for anything. For the Tesseract. Whatever he plans to do he wants an audience-"

"And that would be the perfect stage." I said, finishing his sentence.

Of course. What better way to put on his final act than to do it not only in a place where he would be seen, but where he could mess with the Avengers as well? Winning on the enemies' home field.

"We have to get there." I said, the words falling out of my mouth before I even had a chance to think about it.

"The question is how." Steve said.

"Oh that's easy." Stark said, leaning casually back against the rail. "We highjack a jet."

"You mean steal." Steve said and I could tell that although he didn't want to play by Fury's rules anymore, he still wasn't okay with completely throwing away all morals.

"Well yes. But I prefer the term highjack."

I laughed softly. Leave it to Stark to make a joke at a time like this.

"Well we have one problem," Steve said, his mouth set in a thin line. "We have no one who can pilot the plane."

Shit. He was right. As skilled of fighters as the two men were, neither of them were pilots and I sure as hell had never flown a plane.

I pause for a moment, biting my lip. Then an idea hit me.

"Steve," I said, turning to him, "did SHIELD manage to capture any of Loki's men?"

Steve nodded. "I believe that Fury said something about that. Why do you ask?"

"Because," I said with a smile, "I think I know someone who could help."

OoooooooO

"Alright guys," I said softly as I peeked around the corner of the corridor. "Let's hope this works."

We were standing in one of the halls near the detainment room (apparently there was a detention room and a detainment room. Who knew?) where Steve had said that Fury was holding a few of Loki's men hostage. The element of surprise had worked in their favor but SHIELD was well trained so they had managed to capture about half a dozen men, and as luck would have it, one boy.

There were only two guards posted outside the door and I made my way up to them, my head held high as if I knew exactly what I was doing. Of course, I didn't- I was just winging it- but I figured the more confident I appeared the more likely it would be that they would buy into it.

The men eyed me warily as I walked up.

"Can we help you, Ms. Young?"

So they knew who I was. That was a start.

"Yes." I said. "I need to see one of the prisoners."

The two men eyed each other warily.

"I'm afraid we can't let you." One of them said, although his voice held a note of regret.

"I'm under Fury's orders." I said, lying with ease.

Once again the men exchanged looks.

"Alright, but we will have to radio him to confirm."

The guard reached up to touch his earpiece and I panicked.

"Is that really necessary?" I blurted, searching desperately for an excuse. "He has a lot to handle. What with my uncle-"

I cut off and for once I was glad for the tears that threatened to spill over. The one good thing about being related to Coulson was that no one seemed to want to upset me. By now everyone on the ship had heard what happened.

Just as I thought, the man froze, his hand dropping from his ear.

"Very well." He said.

I smiled. "Great."

OoooooooO

Five minutes later and I was walking back down the hall with Trevor in tow. When the guards had pulled him into the hall he looked confused, but nothing beat the look on his face when he saw me.

"Ms. Young!" He said. "You're okay."

I didn't answer before I grabbed his arm and steered him away from the guards.

"I thought I told you to call me Camilla." I said as we walked.

"Oh, you did. I'm sorry. What are you doing here? What's going on? How did you get away from Loki?"

The questions spilled out of his mouth in a waterfall and I laughed.

"I promise I'll explain everything as long as you do me a favor."

"You got me out of there," he said, tilting his head back in the direction of the detainment room, "I'm at your service."

"We need a pilot."

"We?"

I nodded. "My friends and I. We need to get to New York and none of us know how to fly a jet. Can you help us?"

I paused for a moment, pulling Trevor to a stop as we reached the doors of the hanger where the jets were kept. He paused and for one moment I thought that he was going to say no.

"Please, Trevor," I said softly, "we can't do this without you."

"Are you going to stop Loki?" he asked and although his tone was calm I could sense the answer behind it.

I smiled. "Hell yes we are."

"Then you came to the right guy."

OoooooooO

Steve had gone to get Natasha and Barton and once he arrived the five of us made our way into the hanger. We made our way onto one of the jets where a man was working on some of the controls. He glanced up when we walked in obviously startled to see everyone decked out in their superhero gear.

"Hey," he said, standing up, "you guys aren't authorized to be in here."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Steve beat me to it. "Son, just don't."

I raise an eyebrow, impressed with his determination.

"You heard the man." I said, smiling as I crossed my arms across my chest. "We're going to need to borrow this jet."

The man just looked at me, startled, then his eyes swept the heroes in front of him. Five against one, not good odds, and in a second he was gone.

"Alright," I said as we all settled into the jet. "What do you think, Trevor? Can you fly it?"

The boy nodded, already settling into the pilot's seat. "No problem. I'll need someone to co-pilot though."

"I can do that." Barton said slipping into the seat next to him. "What do you need?"

I smiled and let the boys do their work as I made my way back to Steve.

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

"We make our way to New York and hopefully get to Loki before he can activate the Tesseract."

"Where's Stark?"

"He's going straight to the tower. He thinks Loki might be there."

"Then you have to drop me off."

"What?" Steve looked at me like he thought I was insane. "No."

"Yes." I said firmly. "You have to."

"No I do not. Camilla you do not need to be anywhere near Loki, especially after what happened."

"That's exactly why I need to get to Loki!"

Steve shook his head. "It's suicide. I am not taking you."

"Well you don't have to," I said, "I can get my own ride." Then I reached up and touched my earpiece.

"Stark?"

It took a minute but I heard a crackle followed by Tony's voice.

"What can I do for you, red?"

"I need a ride."

There was a pause. "I'm not sure I follow you."

"I want to come with you. I need to see Loki."

"Again? Did you not just spend the past three days with the man? I thought you would be sick of him."

I rolled my eyes although I knew that Stark couldn't see me. "I said need a ride." I repeated. "So get your ass over here."

I dropped my hand and just listened, waiting for a reply. A second later I got it.

"Be right there."

OoooooooO

We made it to New York in a little under a half an hour but by that time I was practically shaking. Stark had to carry me and there was nothing between us and the ground. A couple times the jets on the suit spluttered and almost failed and each time I gasped and held on even tighter. Damn I hated heights.

I was relieved by the time we made it to Stark Tower, but the sight that we were met with was not a comfort. There was a machine set up on the roof of the building, a mess of metal and wires. And in the middle of it sat the Tesseract.

"The Tesseract is already powered up." Stark said and I bit my lip.

"Shit."

We came to a stop a few dozen feet above the roof.

"Shut it down, Slevig!" Stark called out and the scientist turned to us, his eyes wild.

"It's too late! She can't stop now. She wants to show us something. A new universe."

He sounded insane and even from that height I could see the bright blue of his eyes. The Tesseract was still controlling him.

"Okay." Stark said flatly. He shifted me in his arms and extended one hand, his laser powering up. Then he fired.

There was a giant crash and I screamed as we were hit by a wave of energy which sent Stark flying backwards and almost sent me crashing to the ground. At the last second though, Stark caught me and straightened in the air.

"It looks like it's protected by pure energy!" I said, shouting to be heard over the wind. "You can't breach that."

"Yea I got that." Stark said, glancing down at the ground. "Plan B."

I followed his gaze and saw someone standing on a balcony a couple hundred feet below us.

Loki.

"Alright." I said softly. "Game on."

**So I am staying in tonight. My roommate went out to the bars but I unfortunately do not have a proper fake yet so I am S.O.L. Sucks for me but that means you lovelies get a second chapter! We are getting closer and closer to the end! (Sad but exciting) I never expected the story to be this long- truth be told when I started I wasn't even sure I would finish it!- but I am glad and I can not wait to start the sequel! Keep an eye out for it once I am done with this one, I just came up with a title: Redemption. What do you guys think? Yes? No? Let me know, I love feedback!**


	27. Chapter 25

**So Ellize Avalon pointed out that there is still not a lot of LokixOC and she's right. I have been sticking so close to the actual plot line of the Avengers that I have not given you guys enough of that and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to turn more towards Camilla and Steve. I will fix it, I swear haha. On a different note, the indent on my document is being ridiculous so I had to space everything myself :p Sorry if the format is a little off on the first few pages. **

Stark set me down as soon as we hit the landing pad and we made our way inside, Stark's suit stripping away as we walked. Loki mirrored us, step for step, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Well isn't this a surprise," he said when we had all entered the building. "You brought company, Stark."

"Thought maybe Red here could talk you out of your psychopathic tendencies."

Loki chuckled but there was no humor to it.

"Please tell me you are not going to appeal to my humanity?"

His voice was sarcastic and at ease, as though he was sure that he had already won. Not likely.

"Uh actually we're planning to threaten you." Stark said, just as coolly.

Loki looked amused. "You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah," Stark shrugged as if the idea had crossed his mind, then he made his way down the stairs. "It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glow-stick-of-destiny there."

He motioned towards Loki's scepter and the god looked down and smiled at the weapon in his hand.

"Would you like a drink?" Stark asked and I shot him a look. Okay, so we were going for the super casual approach. If he was thinking of slipping Loki a roofy I doubted it was going to work.

"Stalling me won't change anything. Nor will trying to distract me."

His eyes slipped to me and I felt my face heat up.

"You know what, I'll take one." I said following Stark down the stairs and reaching for a cup. Maybe a drink would distract me. I tipped back the glass and took a gulp, not even bothering to ask what I was drinking. The buzz in my throat a second later told me it was whiskey and out of the corner of my eye I saw Loki raise an eyebrow.

"Impressive." He said.

"Thanks." I spat back drily. "Enough to call off your army?"

Loki laughed. "Not likely."

He made his way to the window and gazed out at the city. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that."

_The Chiaturi_. I shuttered as I recalled an image of the creature with the blood red teeth. _Great._

"You brought alien back up. That's fabulous."

Loki's eyes were amused as they fell back on me. "Their numbers far out reach yours. With a force like that, what do I have to fear?"

"The Avengers." The words came from Stark and Loki and I both turned to look at him.

"Right." I smiled. "Earth's mightiest heroes."

"Yes," Loki said smugly, "I've met them."

Stark laughed. "Yeah. Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother, the demi god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins. And you, big fella, have managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Yeah." I cut in. "Not a great plan."

Stark sent me a smile before making his way around the bar and towards Loki. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk." Stark shot back and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Yea I think we won on that.

"Oh," Loki said, raising his eyebrow. "I thought the beast had wandered off?"

Stark rolled his eyes and I was impressed by his self-control. If it were me, I would have hit Loki by now. "Yeah. You're missing the point. There's no throne. There's no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Cause if we can't protect the Earth you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

I watched Loki's reaction as Stark spoke, his eyes narrowing with each word that was said. "How will your friends have time for me when they'll be so busy fighting you?" He made his way slowly towards Stark and by the time I realized what he intended to do it was already too late. He reached out and the tip of his staff touched Stark's chest, the tip glowing a menacing blue.

There was an electric hum and I watched in shock, waiting for Tony's eyes to turn blue, but nothing happened.

What?

Loki looked as surprised as me and he reached out again, tapping Stark's chest a second time but still nothing.

"Huh." He said softly. "This usually works."

"Not always." I said with a smile and his eyes swung to me, narrowing as he remembered the last time his scepter had failed. "Maybe you need to consider getting a new weapon."

Stark smiled. "Low performance issues. Not uncommon. One out of five-"

He started to rattle off more information but Loki cut him off with a hand to the throat. I gasped as he lifted Stark off his feet, throwing him across the room before returning his grasp to his neck.

"You will all fall before me!"

"No!" I shouted, lunging forward as I realized what Loki was about to do but I was a second too late. There was the crash of breaking glass and I watched as Stark was thrown out of the tower.

"Stark!"

_Oh my God._ I thought. He didn't have the suit on.

"What did you do?!" I screamed, grabbing Loki's arm.

I went to grab his scepter but he shook me off, knocking me to the ground and not a second too soon. There was a crash and I gasped as something shot over my head, ramming into Loki. It looked like a pod and as it sped out the window I realized that Stark must have activated it.

_Please. _I thought desperately. _Please help him. Please work. _

I waited, watching as Loki dragged himself off the ground. Then my heart leapt as I heard a voice. 

"And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil."

I knew that confident tone anywhere and sure enough a second later Stark appeared hovering in the window, all suited up.

"Tony!" I gasped. "You're okay."

"Of course I'm okay." He said, turning his gaze to me as he lifted his hands. "You doubted me?"

I laughed, a happy sound that bubbled up from inside of me. "Not for a second."

"Good." Stark said and I could hear the smile in his voice. Then he stuck out his hand and shot Loki at the same time that there was an earth shattering crash.

Loki hit the wall and I hit the ground, hissing as my hand scraped across a piece of shattered glass.

"What on Earth?" I said softly, pulling myself up. I watched as Stark looked upwards and his whole body tensed.

"Right." He said. "Army."

Oh shit. It was starting.

Stark turned to me. "I'm gonna go take care of that, Red. Think you can handle him?"

He motioned to where Loki lie on the ground and I nodded.

"With pleasure."

And as he blasted off I reached for my waistband, feeling cool metal touch my skin.

Guess who got a gun this time?

OoooooooO

I walked over to Loki, my heels clicking against the glass on the floor.

"Get up." I said coldly, kicking his arm.

I was pissed.

He made no move to stand, instead just tilted his head to look up at me. He eyed the gun I was holding before his gaze dropped to my injured hand.

"Hurt yourself again I see." He said coolly and I clenched my fist, ignoring the slight sting as I brushed my cut.

"Get up." I repeated, this time louder.

Loki paused as if he was thinking about ignoring me, but then he obliged.

Despite his fall he didn't look too hurt. There was only a small cut on his cheek and his hair was tousled slightly. Great, I hit the ground and get a giant gash in my hand. He hits the ground and just looks like he came out of the bedroom.

I tightened my hold on the gun, using the cold feel of the metal to pull me back to the present.

"I also see you acquired a weapon. Would you're uncle approve of you handling that?"

Those words sure snapped me out of it.

"Don't you dare!" I snapped, my voice pure venom. "Don't you dare talk about my uncle! After what you did to him?" I raised the gun, aiming it at his chest but somehow I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger.

"You look shaken, darling. Is something troubling you?" Loki's words were spoken softly, half mocking me.

I dragged in a shuttering breath and forced myself not to cry. I would not cry in front of Loki. He didn't deserve my tears. So instead I pulled in another breath and continued.

"I can not believe you. You stabbed my uncle. The only link I have to my mom and you killed him."

Something flashed in Loki's eyes but then it was gone.

"That is not my problem." He said coldly.

I narrowed my eyes.

Then I shot him.

I knew it wouldn't hurt but I still smiled as he hit the wall with a satisfying thump.

His head snapped up in surprise and I laughed.

"Oh come on, Loki. You really didn't think I would do that? Goes to show what happens when you fuck with my family. Or me. I'm not a weak little girl and I thought you realized this when you captured me."

Loki didn't say anything, but his eyes never left mine.

I continued, too deep in to stop. "You may have had a bad childhood and for whatever reason you can't accept love but that does not mean that you can go around destroying things. And you can't go around destroying families because you are broken. Power may be what you want but you crave but it won't fix you. It won't fix anything and you know that!"

I watched him as he pushed himself off the wall, slowly making his way over to me. I had to lift my head to see into his eyes- he was a good foot and a half taller than me- but I didn't back down. He just studied me for a moment, his eyes sweeping over me as if he was trying to find the answer to some puzzle. Then his lips met mine.

The gun hit the ground but in my shock I hardly even realized that I had dropped it. My eyes widened and I gasped, the sound getting lost in Loki's mouth. He was kissing me. And this time it was different. This kiss wasn't cold and fast, a chance to administer a spell. This was for real. And I had no idea what to do.

Loki must have grown tired of my inaction because he pulled back.

"Is this not what you wanted?" he asked, his voice sharp. "Because if it is not I can stop."

His words were a threat but I knew he wouldn't stop. And in that moment I realized that I didn't want him to. So I did the only thing I could think to do: I reached up and pulled him back to me.

His lips were surprisingly soft and I realized that during our last two kisses- if you could even call them that- I hadn't truly had the chance to savor it. Why had we never truly kissed before? Why was this never an option? Standing there in that moment I realized that it should have been. Damn I had been missing out.

He ran his hands down my arms and I felt my breath hitch at the feather light touch. His fingers were tracing fire all over my skin. I reached up, lacing my arms around his neck and trying to pull him closer. Our mouths moved against each other as if we had forgotten how to breath and the only way we knew was through each other.

I groaned softly and I felt him react, his mouth curving upward. He tapped the back of my thighs and I jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist as he caught me. He turned, slamming me against the wall and I groaned ignoring the pain. This was too good to stop.

By the time we pulled away a few minutes later I was breathless. My chest rose and fell, brushing against his and I shook my head as I tried to snap out of my daze. Then the reality of what I had just done hit me. I had literally just made out with the enemy. Wonder what the Avengers would think about that.

"Put me down." I said. I pushed against Loki's chest but I might as well have been poking a wall. He didn't budge. I felt his whole body vibrate as he laughed.

"Something the matter, love?"

"Put me down!" I said, this time squirming to try and break free. I would have gotten down myself but since he was over six feet tall I was well above the ground. And his grip on my waist was not helping.

"And if I don't want to?"

"I'll shoot you again."

"You're weapon is on the ground."

_Damn it._ I thought. But even as I started to search for a reply, Loki set me back on my feet.

"Well." He said and the smile that slunk across his face made my heart race. "Who knew that lovely little mouth of yours could be put to use for more than sharp words? I may have to explore that more later."

"I am not offering you sexual favors to stop this war."

"What a shame." He laughed softly. "But I am afraid that even if you were willing it would not work. You're too late."

And that's when I remembered. I was too late. The war had already begun. But just because I was too late to prevent it, didn't mean that I couldn't still stop it.

"Yea, well we'll see about that."

**This is probably my favorite chapter that I've written so far. I really like how Cami lets everything out and is really badass in dealing with Loki. Also the fluff doesn't hurt to have ;) Hope you all enjoyed it. I was a little nervous because I wrote a section of fluff but then my computer deleted it so I had to start all over again. Let me know how I did so I can work on improving for the sequel! And now get ready for the battle. **


	28. Chapter 26

**School has been kicking my ass this week but I wanted to get out a chapter because I am afraid there will be a serious mutiny if I do not update and I feel really bad that I've left you guys hanging for two months. :/ I'm sorry! I hope I can make it up to you guys! **

I rushed onto the balcony of Stark Tower and Loki didn't try to stop me. Above me I could see Stark trying to keep the Chitauri from getting through the portal. He got in a few good shots but in the end it was no use, he was outnumbered. The creatures poured out of the tear, like blood from a wound, and fanned out over the city. I watched as a few of them dropped into the streets, the lasers from their ships shredding the pavement and flipping taxis and cars.

"No!" I shouted as I watched people scatter, desperately trying to find cover. There were footsteps behind me and I whirled to find Loki strolling towards me, his clothes melting away to reveal his battle armor. His staff hung casually at his side.

"What have you done?" I shouted, shoving him as hard as I could. Unfortunately he didn't even flinch, just regarded me with cool eyes.

"I thought you were well aware of what was going on."

I ignored him.

"There are people down there!" I said, motioning to the streets below. "You'll hurt them!"

"There are always a few casualties in war."

"They're innocent people!"

"And?"

"This is not a war!" I wanted to strangle him.

Loki raised one eyebrow. "Is it not?"

I opened my mouth to reply when there was a crash off to my left. I jumped, startled and almost fell off the side of the balcony if it weren't for Loki reaching out to grab my arm. He steadied me, then turned to face the visitor. I followed his gaze and felt relief flood my body as I saw Thor, crouched on a sill below us.

"Loki!" He stood and pointed towards the building with his hammer. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it."

I felt my heart sink. If only that was an option. Beside me Loki chuckled as if reading my mind, then he pointed his staff towards Thor.

"You can't. There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

Thor's eyes narrowed. "So be it."

Then before I could blink Loki leapt towards his brother with a roar.

The force of Loki's movement knocked me back and I stumbled, watching as the two fought. It only took me a minute to realize that this was my chance. Now that Loki was distracted I had to come up with a plan. The scepter shot out a beam of light, knocking a chunk of debris to the ground. I watched it fall, crashing against the rooftops below. The sound of peoples' screams echoed through the city, reaching me even dozens of stories above and I realized that I had to get to the ground, I had to try and protect those people.

I turned and bolted inside, swiping my gun off the floor as I made my way towards the elevators. It wasn't much compared to the Chitauris' laser beams but it was a weapon nonetheless and I felt safer with it in my hand.

The second the elevator doors opened I rushed inside and punched the button for the ground floor. Nothing happened. I looked towards the ceiling.

"Jarvis?" I said, speaking to Stark's computer system.

"Yes Miss Young?"

Wow, it already knew my name. That was a start.

"I need you to get me down there, now."

"Miss, I am afraid the Tesseract is draining a great deal of power from the building. The lifts are not working properly."

Shit.

"Think you can make them work?" I asked. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

There was a crash from outside and I lifted my head just in time to meet

Trevor's startled gaze as I watched a beam from Loki's staff light their jet propeller on fire. Help had arrived and Loki just shot them right out of the sky.

I didn't wait for Jarvis's answer. I ran out of the elevator and back onto the balcony, my hand reaching for my waist. I grabbed my gun, raised it up and shot. My experience shooting a gun was pretty minimal but this time I got lucky. The bullet hit the handle of Loki's staff, knocking it out of his hand and sending it spiraling across the balcony.

Bulls eye.

About time I got that damn thing away from him.

Loki's head whipped to the side and I smiled when his eyes met mine.

"Should've kept the gun." I called out, holding up my weapon for him to see.

Loki opened his mouth to reply but my comment had been just enough to distract him and Thor took the opportunity to tackle his brother, fists flying.

"Camilla," he called out, landing a few good blows to Loki's stomach, "you must get out of here."

Get out of here? Like hell. But Thor's comment reminded me one thing, I still had to figure out a way to get to the ground. I scanned the buildings and saw the wing of the jet between some skyscrapers a few blocks away, still steaming.

There was no time to think about if my friends were okay, I just had to get down there and help them. Stark was busy so that option was gone, but there had to be another way….

Just then something whizzed past my head, knocking me to ground. I groaned as I hit some debris and rolled to the side to watch a group of Chiaturi whizz by, their ships humming.

Right, Stark wasn't the only thing in the sky.

_Stark wasn't the only thing in the sky…._

A plan hit me so fast that I didn't even give myself time to think, I just started moving. I pulled myself up off the ground and took off running. Down the balcony, past Loki & Thor who both stopped what they were doing and lifted their heads to watch me.

"Camilla?" Thor's voice sounded startled but it was Loki who seemed to know what I was about to do.

"Are you ma-"

But before he could even finish the last word I had launched myself into the air and was falling.

OoooooooooO

As the ground came rushing up to meet me I realized that I really should have thought this through. With Stark busy fighting the other Chitauri there was no one to catch me if this didn't work. I turned my head, wildly searching for an alien ship and felt my heart leap as I saw two a few hundred feet below me. Luck must have been on my side. I tilted my body in the air, doing my best to propel myself towards the aliens, then I braced myself.

I hit the ship with such force that it nearly knocked both me and the Chitauri right off the other side. As it was, it tore all the air from my lungs and I lay stunned for a moment before I could actually move. The ship beside us had been knocked away but I could see it circling back, its driver looking startled, but angry. The creature above me groaned, a deep guttural sound, and I used that moment to act. Reaching into my waistband I pulled out my gun and shot the bonds that attached the Chitauri to its ship. Then I swung my legs out and kicked as hard as I could. My feet connected with the alien's legs and it let out a bellowing cry as it tumbled over the side, hitting the second ship and sending it straight into the side of a building.

There was a shower of broken glass and flames and I held up my hand to protect my face. Then the floor tilted out from under me. I screamed and reached out to grab onto something, realizing too late that there was a flaw in my plan. With the Chitauri gone there was no one to fly the ship.

Damn it! I could not die from this. I had come way too far to let my own stupidity be the thing that killed me.

I reached up and took a hold of the control panel, pulling myself to my feet. But the second I looked at the controls I felt my heart sink again. There were no buttons. The only sign of any controls were on the ridges of the handles, right where I had shot the Chitauri off from its connection to the ship. That bond must have been what was making it fly.

I tugged on the handles; desperately trying to get the ship to move but there was no change. I was dropping like a stone. I groaned, a sound of defeat, and closed my eyes as I braced myself for the crash landing. But it never came.

Instead I both heard and felt something move past me, and then I was being lifted into the air. I gasped and opened my eyes, turning my head to meet Stark's iron gaze.

"Do you think you could try not to die? Like for two minutes?"

His voice only sounded mildly irritated and I was too relieved to care either way. He had just saved my life.

"You always know when to come, you know that?"

"Timing is everything."

I held tight to Stark as he dodged in between buildings, making his way towards the place that the jet had landed.

He got about a block away before a group of Chitauri appeared, firing at us from all sides.

"Shit." Stark swore, swooping down to the ground. He set me down, then turned to look at the aliens above us.

"Sorry I couldn't get you closer, red. I'm going to take care of that." He tilted his head upwards, motioning to the Chitauri. "Think you can get to Cap and the others on your own?"

I nodded. "Yea, I'll be fine. Thanks, Stark."

I turned and made it about ten feet away before he called out to me again.

"Oh hey, red?"

I turned to look back at him. "Yea?"

"Kick some ass."

I nodded, then took off running.

**The final battle scene is going to take several chapters so hang with me. I have a shit ton of reading to do for school this weekend but I will try to update again as soon as I can. Oh and here are some review comments, I decided to start putting them at the end:**

**BookwormGirl16****- That is so cool that you had a similar idea! I definitely want to read it, message me the link :) **

**Sexy545- ****Thank you! You seriously have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say I'm your favorite author :) I'm sorry that I have not updated recently. I do that sometimes :/ But I promise I will never leave you guys hanging, I just sometimes get caught up with other stuff going on. P.S- That last chapter was probably my fav too **


	29. Chapter 27

**So I was reading another story on fan fiction by '****Dawn-Of-Indescribable-Colors****'****- if you haven't check out her stories you definitely should!- and I got her permission to do a contest she did. So here it is: I want you guys to create youtube trailers or clips for this story. Send me the link and whoever wins gets to help me create a new character for the sequel (and therefore they will get a sneak peak of the sequel since I will have to explain it to them in order to create this character). Who's up for it? **

It only took me about five minutes to reach the jet and the second it came into view I felt my knees buckle in relief.

"Steve!" I called out and he turned his head as I ran to him. "You're okay!"

"Camilla!" He opened his arms and embraced me as soon as I got close enough. "Are you alright?"

His gaze fell to my hand and I closed my fist, doing my best to hide the cut.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little scraped up."

"Did Loki do this to you?" he asked, his voice hard.

"Not quite." I said, thinking back on the broken glass and my free fall. "I just have a talent for getting into trouble."

"Well now we're all in trouble." Steve said, glancing up towards Stark Tower. "We have to get back up there."

"Easier said then done, the elevators are broken and taking the stairs would waste time that we need."

My eyes fell on the jet, which had buried itself in the ground.

_Well that option was out too…_

The plane shifted a bit and I tensed, my hand reaching for my gun. But just as I was about to pull it out of my waistband, I recognized the person who stumbled out.

"Trevor!"

The boy looked up when he heard his name and smiled weakly. He was supported between Black Widow and Hawkeye and one look at how pale his face was and I knew he was hurt.

"What happened?" I gasped, running up to him.

"Oh I'm fine," he said, trying to wave off my concern, but I shot him a look and his smile vanished. "Part of the jets collapsed in when the nose hit the ground. It pinned my leg beneath it. These two managed to pull me out but I'm scraped up pretty good."

"We think his ankle is broken." Black Widow said, and looking at the way that it hung at an awkward angle I had to agree with her.

Shit.

"Can you put any weight on it?"

Trevor placed his foot on the ground, but the second he placed any weight on it, his face paled even more and he hissed. He shook his head and smiled half-heartedly at me.

"Looks like the answer is no. Sorry Camilla."

"That's oka- wait, did you just call me Camilla?"

I was about to marvel at the fact that he had finally addressed me by my first name, when a giant creaking sound echoed through the city. All five of our heads snapped up and I felt my stomach drop out. A giant monster had just crawled out of the portal. It looked like a giant metallic slug, if a slug had razor sharp teeth and was the length of five city busses….

It slithered its way down into the city, destroying statues and buildings in its path, and as it got closer I saw that it wasn't just a monster, it was some kind of ship. There were compartments all along its sides and as the Avengers and I watched they opened and dozens of Chitauri jumped free, sliding down buildings. A few crashed through windows and I could hear screams coming from stories above.

Steve gawked at the creatures. "Stark, do you see this?"

"I see." Stark's voice came through our headpieces. "Still working on believing."

"Me too…."

"Where's Banner?" Stark asked, "Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve sounded doubtful but Tony wasn't fazed.

"Just keep me posted."

His voice faded away and a second later Chitauri gunfire rained down on us. Steve and I dove out of the way while Hawkeye and Black Widow pulled Trevor down behind a taxi.

I stood back up and watched as three Chitauri ships swooped down, aiming at the main road.

"Loki." Steve said softly and sure enough I saw that the god led the group. How did he get on one of their ships? And what did that mean for Thor?

There were more screams and I tensed as I watched people duck and run, trying to avoid the ships' laser beams.

"There are civilians down there." I said.

Black Widow stood, firing at some of the aliens before duking back down next to Trevor.

There was a crash as half a dozen Chitauri dropped from the sky, crushing some abandoned cabs.

"Shit."

I whirled, turning to face Black Widow.

"Can you get him out of here?" I asked, motioning to Trevor.

"What? No, I want to help!" He said indignantly and my heart went out to him. After all those were the words that I had echoed endlessly since I had met the Avengers.

"I know you do, but you are hurt." I thought for a moment. "But there is one way that you can help. Keep the people in the buildings calm. Don't tell them everything that is going on, but give them just enough to keep them off the streets. The last thing we need is anyone getting hurt."

For a moment I thought that Trevor was going to argue with me, but he nodded.

"Alright."

I smiled and reached forward, hugging him. "Thanks, Trev."

"And I'll help the ones down there." Steve motioned to the street below. "Think you guys can hold them off?"

Hawkeye smiled. "Captain…" He reached behind him, grabbing an arrow and hooking it into his bow. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

Then he stood, shooting one of the Chitauri right in between the eyes. It gave a groan then dropped to the ground and I laughed in triumph.

Steve smiled too, and then he took off running. Black Widow quickly led Trevor away while Hawkeye and I turned our attention back to the attacking force.

"Alright kid," Hawkeye said, "What weapon you got?"

I held up my pistol and he shrugged.

"That works. Think you can handle them for a second while I get to those civilians?"

He motioned to a bus behind us and I nodded.

"Yeah, get them out of here. I got this."

To prove my point I lifted my gun and shot a few of the Chitauri, making sure to aim for their head in the same way he had. Hawkeye nodded.

"Just holler if you need me."

He took of towards the bus and I dodged back behind the taxi, shooting through the shattered back window. I landed a few good blows but I knew that my luck wouldn't last for long. I just hoped that Hawkeye got back fast. The gravel crunched behind me a few minutes later and I spun, gun raised.

"Easy there!" Black Widow said and she pushed the gun down as she settled down next to me.

"Trevor?"

"He's fine." She assured me. "I left him with some of the civilians. He'll keep them calm and they'll keep him safe."

She reached into her back pocket, reloading the cartridge on her gun, then she smiled.

"Now, where were we?"

OoooooooooO

The fighting seemed to last forever. Hawkeye returned after helping most of the people and proceeded to take down countless Chitauri with his arrows. Black Widow and I used our guns until she got a hold of one of the Chitauri's weapons- a long narrow stick that shot a beam out of the end much like Loki's. We held them off pretty well, but even when Steve hopped in we were still hopelessly out numbered.

I had long ago abandoned hiding behind the taxi and stood, taking down as many Chitauri as I could with my gun. I managed to hit about three or four when there was a zap and I fell to the ground. Liquid fire raced up my arm and I looked down to find a long slash right below my shoulder from one of the lasers. The ground shifted near me and I looked up as three of the monsters advanced towards me, weapons held high.

I reached for my gun but my hand met only gravel and my heart sank as I spotted it a few feet away. Too far to get to fast enough. I braced myself, closing my eyes, when there was another sound. This one was different though, the crackle of electricity instead of a laser. There was a giant thump and I opened my eyes to find the three Chitauri dead on the ground, electrocuted by strikes of lightning.

"Thor!" I said as I watched the god land on the ground.

"You're alright."

After seeing Loki, I had expected the worst.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor said.

I nodded, remembering how Tony and I had nearly fallen out of the sky earlier when he tried to blast it.

My earpiece came to life and Stark's voice cut in as he shot past us, trailed by two Chitauri ships. "Thor's right, you have to deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Black Widow asked.

"As a team." Steve said.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said.

"Yea, get in line." Hawkeye and I snapped at the same time and I would have laughed had it not been true. We all had bones to pick with Loki.

"Loki's going to keep the fight focused on us." Steve said and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "And that's what we need. Without it, these things could run wild."

My mind flashed to an image of the Chitauri flooding Chicago and I felt sick. If we let these monsters out of our sight then what was keeping them from doing this same thing to the rest of the world?

"We need to keep that attention on us." I said. "Keep them distracted."

Steve nodded. "We've got Stark up top. He's going to need us when-"

Suddenly there was the sound of an engine and he cut off. We all turned at once, poised for a fight, but what met our gaze was something we were not expecting.

"Banner?" I gasped as I recognized his face.

He looked just as beat up as the rest of us and I wondered what had happened to him all this time. And where the hell he had gotten that second hand mo-ped. We all walked towards him as he came to meet us.

"So," he said, "this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Black Widow said softly and I suddenly remembered the roar on the ship. Had she been caught with Banner when he lost control?

"Sorry." Banner cringed.

Black Widow shook her head. "No, we could use a little worse."

"Stark, we got him." Steve said and I remembered what Tony had asked earlier. He knew that the doctor would show up.

"You got him?" Stark asked and Steve nodded although he couldn't see him.

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up."

Any other time Stark's suggestion would have seemed insane, but I realized that that was exactly what we needed. Loki had unleashed the Hulk to try and defeat us on the ship, so why not turn that weapon against him?

I was lost in this thought when I heard Stark's voice again.

"I'm bringing the party to you."

I lifted my head as he sped around one of the buildings, followed by one of the giant monsters from the sky. The creature burst through the high rise, scattering debris and shattered glass everywhere.

"I don't see how that's a party…" Black Widow said and I chuckled nervously.

"Me neither."

Thor swung his hammer in his hand and I reached for my gun, replacing the cartridge with one that the female Avenger had given me earlier. I doubted that my pistol would do much damage against that thing but it was better than being defenseless.

"Dr. Banner," Steve said, "now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

Banner was already walking towards the creature but even with his back to us I could hear him chuckle.

"That's my secret Captain, I'm always angry."

Then he turned and my mouth dropped…

**If you guys have seen the movie then you know what comes next, but I thought it would be a cool cliffhanger. I started writing this chapter today and could not stop! Haha I missed writing this story. Please please please let me know what you guys think about the contest and until then enjoy these responses…. **

**Dontgotaclue88**- **Me too! I am scared of heights- Cami is too but she's enough of a badass to jump off roofs when she needs to haha- so that would terrify me**

**MusicIsMySinn****- Haha it sounds funny to say, Loki seems way too damaged to be in love, but sort of, yeah. Cami's something else; guess she's the exception**


	30. Chapter 28

**Thank you to Tsume Yuki for such an extensive review, I am sorry that I did not get to answer it sooner! I literally did not let myself read or write this past quarter of school because I had so much to do. This next quarter should be a lighter load though so I will write more. **

**One of the things that was mentioned in the review is how Cami doesn't have a set place in the Avengers. This is something I thought about and the more I did I realized that I am not sure I want her to. I think that the story goes too fast to have Cami settle down with the Avengers and she is too unpredictable to really fit in at the moment. I will work on it though!**

**Let me know what you guys think: **

_**Where does Cami fit in the Avengers? Or does she fit at all?**_

I had only ever heard the Hulk so I'm not sure that I was prepared for what happened next. Banner went from a five foot nine human to a raging creature in ten seconds flat. His body erupted in green muscle and his clothes shredded as he grew to about four or five times his size. Then he turned and smashed his fist into the Chitauri creature. Banner slid back, his feet crushing the pavement as he and the ship slid to a stop. The creature screamed as its head was crushed under the Hulk's fist. It's face sunk into the ground but its body kept moving, swinging over the head and down towards us.

"Oh shit!"

I saw the other Avengers tense and I held up my arms, ready to protect myself from any falling metal but then I heard Stark's voice.

"Hold on!"

There was a whistle and I recognized it as one of Stark's missiles. He was shooting at the exposed underbelly of the creature.

Steve reached out and grabbed me and Black Widow, pulling the three of us under his shield just as the ship exploded and a rain of fire and metal poured down on us. I closed my eyes for a second before I felt Steve's hand on my shoulder. We were all okay. I looked up to find Hawkeye crouched behind a car a few feet away and Thor standing beside us, totally unfazed. I guess that was one of the perks of being a god.

There was an echo of screams above us and I looked up to see the Chitauri glaring down at us. One pulled off its mask and screamed but I just flicked it off. Steve helped me to my feet and I stood next to him glancing around at the others.

Black Widow's eyes flicked to the sky and she tensed.

"Guys."

I followed her gaze and felt my own muscles coil as I watched more creatures fall from the sky. The portal seemed to be supplying a never-ending amount of these monsters, how were we going to keep up?

"Call it Captain." Stark said and I glanced over my shoulder to see him behind me.

"Alright listen up." Steve said, his eyes never leaving the sky. "Until we can close that portal up, priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

The two men nodded and Hawkeye turned to Stark.

"Give me a lift?"

Stark nodded. "Right. Better clench up Legolas."

I shook my head and snorted. Leave it to Iron Man to make a joke at a time like this.

Steve continued. "Thor, you gotta try and bottle neck that portal. Slow 'em down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor smiled and then with a swing of his hammer he was gone too, leaving the three of us.

"Alright ladies. We stay here, we keep the fighting on the ground. And Hulk-"

At the sound of his name Banner turned and I tensed despite myself. On our side or not I remembered how much damage he had caused earlier. This creature was a far cry from the collected man that I knew. But as Steve spoke his last command I watched a smile break out on the Hulk's face.

"Smash."

That was all it took and before I could blink he was nothing more than a green flash, flying between buildings as he slammed Chitauri down towards the ground. I jumped to the side, dodging a piece of debris that fell with the building. Then I turned back towards Steve.

His eyes met mine and something flashed in them. I didn't have to say anything, he already knew what I was thinking.

"No." He said, his voice dead serious. "I know what you're thinking Camilla and the answer is no. You have no idea where Loki is and you are not going to go running around the city to find him. You would only endanger yourself and others. We need you here."

For a moment I thought about defying him, it wasn't like I hadn't done it before. I wasn't great at taking orders. But then I took a second and looked around. The area around us was shredded. Burning cars littered the street, pavement torn up and taxis lying on their hoods like toys. The people here had been evacuated but what about in other parts of the city? If I didn't help here then the Chitauri would have a chance to spread out. Stark may have control of the perimeter but there were still people inside the area that we had closed off. Those people were in danger and if I left that meant more Chitauri had the chance to get away. Steve was right. I had to stay.

So I nodded. Then pulled my pistol out and turned to face the Chitauri.

OooooooooooO

Twenty minutes in and I knew this was a bad idea. I had no training as a soldier and I obviously did not know how to use a gun. My body was a mess of dust and ash and cuts. The places were the Chitauri lasers had grazed me were raw and a line of blood ran down my calf. An idiot could tell that I was holding the other two Avengers back.

I rolled to the side dodging yet another Chitauri laser and groaned as my back hit the side of a car. Looking around, Steve and Black Widow didn't look like they were having much more luck than I was. Steve was fighting two of the aliens at once and I watched as he slammed one in the face with his shield before being knocked forward by the other. He stumbled before regaining his balance and tossing the other Chitauri over the side of the bridge.

I heard a crash and my head whipped up to find Black Widow pinned against the hood of a car by one of the Chitauri. I jumped up, ready to help but she twisted her legs behind the creatures head and reached forward yanking the wires right out of its head. The creature was stunned just long enough for her to grab its weapon and shoot a laser straight through its skull. The Chitauri groaned as it was flung across the bridge and crumpled onto the ground.

There was a crunch of gravel as Steve dropped to the ground beside her and she swung around, weapon ready.

"Don't!" I called out and she paused, relaxing as she realized it was just us.

I sighed, my body deflating in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could do and I was nowhere near finding Loki. I tilted my head up, glaring accusingly at the gaping hole in the sky.

"None of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

I could see Steve nod out of the corner of my eye. "Yeah, but our biggest guns couldn't touch it."

"Maybe it's not about guns."

I turned at Black Widow's words.

For a moment none of us said anything as those words set in. _Not about guns_… What if she was right? Thor was a god and at the moment even he couldn't get the portal to close. But there was something that could.

"The Tesseract." I said softly to myself. "That's the off switch."

Steve's eyes met mine and I knew he was thinking the same thing. We didn't have any other options. He turned his attention back to Black Widow.

"You want to get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"You mean we're both going to need a ride."

He sighed, not even bothering to turn around.

"How did I know that you were going to say that?"

"Steve, please." I said, taking a step towards him. "You have to let me do this."

_It might help me get back up there and find Loki. _I wanted to add, but I was smart enough to bite my tongue. I had a feeling Steve knew what I was thinking anyway.

"I would tell you no," he started and my shoulders tensed. "But I'm not sure it would do any good. So fine. Go. But I swear if you don't come back I will bring you back and kill you myself."

I felt my body relax and I let out a laugh.

"I've escaped a collapsing base, been kidnapped by a psycho, almost fallen off the side of a ship and just fell fifteen stories just to be rescued by Stark. I have no idea how it happened. Frankly I should be dead. But one more death defying act won't kill me, right?"

I shot him a cheeky grin and he smiled.

There was a sound of clearing throat and we both looked back at Black Widow.

"We have a ride." She said, her eyes focused on something above us.

There was a whirring sound and I smiled as a few Chitauri ships flew past our heads.

"Like your very own alien taxi service." I smiled. "Alright then, let's do this."

"You sure about this?" Steve asked as he offered us his shield as a leg up.

"Yeah." Black Widow said. "It'll be fun."

Then she braced herself and took off running, bouncing off Steve's shield and launching herself into the air. At the last second she caught the corner of a Chitauri ship and was gone.

"You ready?" Steve asked me, bending down to brace his shield.

I gulped really hoping that my words from earlier had been true. Because one more death defying stunt might just kill me. But too late to think about that now. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and started running.

**Tsume Yuki****- Thank you :) I usually insert my characters into families within the story, for some reason it feels more real to me and I love weaving in connections, and I am glad it did not annoy you. What do you mean you had to do a revision? Yea I know what you mean with Camilla jumping around a lot, I had a hard time balancing her feelings towards Loki since I wanted her to want him yet fight it at the same time. A lot of it is willing-suspension-of-disbelief (a term I learned from my English teacher my freshman year of high school). I definitely appreciate your advice; reviews as you know are always fun to read. This was the first fanfic I started so I will do my best to work on it and hopefully round out my character.**


	31. Chapter 29

**I meant to get this chapter out to you guys earlier but my computer kept auto correcting the format and it totally messed with what I was writing as well as my thought process :p**

Riding a Chitauri ship was no easier than the last time, but at least this time I was ready for it. I held tight as the ship yanked me into the air and used all my arm strength to pull myself on. I was careful to keep low and avoid rocking the ship while I figured out what to do. I couldn't knock the creatures off, I had no knives to cut the chains that held them to the ship and I remembered how bad that had gone last time. The problem was I could hardly ask them to drop me off wherever Loki was. Something told me that the Chitauri would not appreciate being used as a taxi service.

What had Black Widow done? I raised my head and looked around, searching the sky for her. When I finally found her, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. She was a few buildings in front of me, her hands on the back of a Chitauri as she used it to steer the ship. But it didn't look easy. Her ship dipped and swerved as she tried furiously to steady it.

Thinking about my ride earlier I realized that was not going to work for me. I had no chance of driving this ship, but I could ride it. I bent low again; glancing up to make sure that the Chitauri had not seen me. So far so good.

_Alright, Plan B._

I raised my head again to look for a good landing spot when another ship whipped past us. It was so close that I nearly felt the metal scrape my skin and I gasped as our ship rocked. The Chitauri roared in rage and surprise as they tried to get everything under control. I had only seen the other ship for as second but it only took one second to recognize who it was.

Of course that son of a bitch couldn't resist joining the fight.

I watched as he shot at Black Widow's ship and she swerved to avoid the fire.

"Damn it, Loki!" I muttered.

Black Widow turned her head and in a second there was something flying through the air. I gasped as I recognized what it was. Hawkeye had shot one of his arrows, and it was headed right towards Loki's face. Before I could blink there was a shout.

"Loki, look out!"

The voice was mine and as soon as I called out all hell broke loose. Black Widow and Hawkeye's gazes whipped to me and I realized I was busted. Loki didn't even glance at me though, he just reached up and plucked the arrow out of the air, stopping it right before it hit his face. I let out a breath of relief but a second later there was an explosion as the arrow exploded in his hand. Loki went flying and hit the balcony of Stark tower, scattering glass everywhere.

The building was only a few hundred feet in front of us and as it came closer and closer I realized that this was my stop. The Chitauri ship flew past the tower only feet away and I launched myself into the air, letting out a heavy breath as I landed hard on the balcony. I rolled to the side to get away from the broken glass then lifted my head to look at Loki. He had pulled himself to his hands and knees and his muscles were coiled as if he were ready to jump to his feet.

I tensed, ready to defend myself but when he saw that it was me his body relaxed.

"Back for more, my love?"

My face colored slightly at his words but I kept my expression neutral.

"You look ready for a fight." I said coolly. "Think I can help?"

My hands balled into fists against the balcony floor. I wasn't kidding either. Once I had gotten over the relief of Loki not being dead I remembered how pissed I was at him. How could he kill my uncle and then make out with me as if nothing had happened? It was disgusting. But I knew that wasn't the only thing that was bothering me. Truth was I was almost as angry at myself as I was at him. How could I betray my family like that? It was like my body had taken over for my brain.

"My dear, you don't look fit for a fight."

His eyes swept my figure and it felt like he was taking in my body more than the cuts on them.

My cheeks burned even redder and I was furious at myself for reacting. Worse was the coiled feeling in the pit of my stomach, like at any moment I would lean forward and grab him. It was like he had set my body ablaze with just his eyes.

He rose to his feet gracefully and I matched his move, my eyes never leaving his.

"It's good to see you, Camilla." He said. "For a moment I feared that my army had harmed you. Or that you had harmed yourself."

He added the last part with a chuckle and I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh did you really?" I asked. I took a step back and glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was making my way towards the door. I had to get him inside. The further he was from the fighting the more I could distract him.

"I did." He said and to my relief he matched me step for step.

Once we had made it inside I stopped, waiting for the rest of my plan to sink in. Nothing came to me and I groaned softly. Alright, I guess I just had to improvise.

I raised my eyes to Loki who was now standing with his back to the glass window, no doubt waiting for me to speak. So I opened my mouth and said the first thing that came to my mind.

"You know the first dream I had was about you?"

I blinked. Where had that come from?

"You mean the first dream you ever had?"

His voice was light and mocking and I frowned at him.

"No you cheeky bastard. My first premonition."

"Is that so?" Loki asked, his accent wrapping around the words, turning them silky and seductive.

I wrinkled my nose.

"It wasn't a wet dream you pervert."

I took a step back and gasped as I felt my foot catch on the stairs that I had forgotten were there. My body pitched backwards and I closed my eyes, waiting to hit the floor, but it never happened. Instead I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and I was lowered gently to the stairs. The hands never left my body and I opened my eyes to find Loki leaning over me.

"Your words darling." He said softly. "Not mine."

I rolled my eyes. God or mortal this man was just like every other guy. He thought with his dick. And suddenly it hit me. Maybe that was the key to distracting him.

I leaned forward and closed my eyes again, letting my lips lightly graze his before I pulled back. I didn't say anything, just waited to see if it would work at all. Loki's eyes locked onto mine and something shifted in them turning hungry. _Bingo._

"I'm glad you are okay." I said softly.

The words were meant to be part of the seduction, but as I said them I realized it was true. Part of me had been really worried.

"You know you drive me nuts." I continued, this time lifting my finger to trail down his chest. Then I leaned forward putting my lips right next to his ear to finish the rest. "In fact, you drive me _insane_." And when my finger trailed lower Loki growled and his lips were on mine.

I knew that I was just supposed to be seducing Loki but the second he kissed me I felt my mind go foggy. His mouth was hungry against mine and his arms tightened around me as he pulled me flush against his body. I gasped as his lips left mine and attached to my neck, biting and sucking his way to my collarbone. Then his tongue was out and I forgot where I was for a minute.

Who was meant to be seducing who again?

Loki chuckled as if reading my mind and his lips grazed my ear.

"As much as I would love to continue this. And believe me, my love-" he paused to lean down again, giving me a long kiss that left my toes curling. "-I would quite enjoy that. But I am not so easily distracted."

"What?"

The fog began to clear from my head and I tensed _Oh shit. _I didn't see that one coming.

"What are you talking about?"

Loki chuckled and something about the sound made me lean further away from him.

"You insult me, my dear. Did you think I was that foolish? Us gods may be more highly sexual than your mortal men, but we are not nearly as ruled by our hormones. You can not use your body to distract me from this battle."

_Damn._

_Well it worked for a minute_. I wanted to snap but I bit my tongue. The last thing I wanted to do was come off as a whiney kid. So instead I pushed him off and climbed to my feet, dusting the debris off my body.

"You are such a pain in my ass I don't even know why I bother talking to you."

"I recalled you enjoyed talking to me in depth not too long ago."

"Yeah, that was because I was trying to get information from you. I know you weren't dumb enough to miss that."

"You gave me quite a bit of information about yourself as well, though. I do not believe it is necessary to give me that many details about your past simply to persuade me to talk."

_Well that's true…_

I rolled my eyes and ignore him, but his next words made me tense.

"You have not mentioned your precious family in a while. Do you not fear for them anymore?"

"Why would I have to fear for them? I asked, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"You would not, if you were to join with me."

"To join with you?" I asked, my voice a mixture of shock and disgust. "Are you insane?"

"My dear, you fail to see. When I take over this filthy planet, I will need someone to be by my side. Camilla, you could be-"

"Don't!" I snapped, flinching away from him. "Don't you dare say 'my queen.' And you seem to forget that the filthy planet you're talking about it my home. Do you really think that I would suddenly fall to my knees in front of you and declare my undying devotion?"

"You are welcome to fall to your knees, my dear." He smiled and this time I literally reached for a piece of rubble and threw it at him. Unfortunately it just bounced off his chest.

"You can not talk to me for one minute without turning what I say into something sexual!"

'_Not as ruled by our hormones' my ass._

"Is this your only way to get me to cooperate?" I continued. "To threaten me?"

I narrowed my eyes and grit my teeth. This was too much. Of all the things that Loki could do, threatening my family was the worst. And the wrong thing to do. This time I really was going to kill him.

"You know what, Loki? I think you need to sit down!"

And before I knew what I was doing I was extending my arms and Loki went flying.

I hadn't even touched him.

My hands flew to my mouth and my eyes widened as I watched him slam into the wall.

He groaned as he crumpled to the ground, his eyes closed. But when he opened them, they were staring in amazement at me.

"Oh shit!" I looked down at my hands as if they would start speaking and tell me what had just happened.

"Well," Loki said slowly, "looks as though your powers stretch past premonitions. My my….."

His gaze turned hungry as if I was some meal that had just become that much more appetizing.

Normally I would have called him out on it but I was still so stunned by my actions that I could hardly speak.

"Oh my God." I said to myself. What was going on with me?

I raised my eyes to Loki's then I stepped forward, slamming my hands into his chest.

"What did you do?!"

For Loki's part, he didn't look too fazed. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"What did you do to me? What the hell was that?"

"You tell me. That was not of my doing."

"Like hell it wasn't!"

I stared him down, waiting for him to confess but he didn't say anything.

"Loki, I'm not joking, what was that?"

"My dear I know that you refuse to believe me but whatever power that was came from you."

I shook my head, taking a step back. "No. No it didn't. I'm a girl from Chicago. My dad is an astrophysicist, not Batman. I'm nothing special."

"I find that difficult to believe." Loki said softly.

I tried not to blush at his comment and instead brushed it off. "I'm definitely not some super hero. I should not have powers."

"What about your mother?"

"My mother?" I stared at him blankly. "What about her?"

"Was she a mystical being?"

Okay. Now he was just screwing with me.

"My mother," I forced out between clenched teeth. "Left me when I was a kid. She wasn't a super hero because if she was she probably would have had the guts to at least make up some excuse of where she was going. And she would have come back. She's no part of me."

Loki chuckled, pulling himself off the ground.

"Now that is where you are wrong, Camilla." He took a step towards me and this time I didn't move. Something about what he was about to say had me frozen.

"What do you know about my mom?"

"I know more than you would think, my dear. In fact-"

He opened his mouth to say more when there was the sound of a roar and breaking glass.

**Props to Ellize Avalon for sparking that powers idea. Cami can get visions in her dreams, so what if an extension of that power was that she could move things by projecting her thoughts? Both connect to the power of her mind and we all know how strong Cami's will can be, so why not have powers to match it? ;) Also I have to admit that the seduction part of this chapter was a Disney inspiration. Anyone remember when Jasmine seduces Jafar to distract him? **


	32. Chapter 30

The Hulk came crashing through the window behind us so fast that it was just a blur of green. He hurtled into Loki, sending him flying across the room and into the opposite wall. I was far enough away not to get hit, but I still had to duck to protect myself from the shattered glass. Banner roared and hit his fists against the ground before stalking towards the fallen god, but seconds before he reached him, Loki jumped to his feet.

"Enough!" He shouted, so loud that even I flinched.

I watched the Hulk, waiting for him to tear Loki to shreds but even he froze for a moment.

"You are all of you beneath me!"

"Um, Loki?" I said, all too aware of what might happen next.

I am a god, you dull creature!"

"Loki."

"And I will not be bullied by-"

"Loki!" I opened my mouth to warn him for the last time but I was a second too late.

Banner was no longer standing still and with one swipe of his giant hand, Loki was lifted off the ground and was being tossed around like a rag doll. First to the left, then on the right, Banner slammed him against the floor. If I hadn't seen bullets ricochet harmlessly off his body just days before I would have been worried about Loki. But as it was I still had to cringe.

"Banner!" I cried out, trying to get the monster's attention. "Banner!"

The Hulk paused and turned his eyes to me. For a moment I felt my body tense and I wondered if it was the best idea to have gotten the monster's attention. But all eyes were on me now and I had to follow through. So I squared my shoulders and pointed a finger at him.

"Knock it off! Do you think any of the others will be happy if you knock Loki's head off? First of all I think Hawkeye would love to do that himself and secondly someone is going to want him to pay for what he has done. And he can't do that if he is dead or severely injured. So drop him. _Now_." At my last word I pointed to the ground, all too aware of the fact that I sounded like I was speaking to a dog. If your dog was ten feet tall and weighed over a ton. I bit my lip and waited, praying that Banner would recognize me enough not to pound me into the ground as well. I doubted that I could take the beating like Loki. But to my relief he just huffed out a breath and dropped the god.

"Puny god." He said gruffly before he turned and stalked away.

I let out a deep breath and groaned, dropping to the ground. I was shaking slightly and my body suddenly felt too heavy. Beside me I heard Loki groan.

"Well, I hope that taught you something." I sighed sarcastically as I leaned back on my arms. "You can't always pick fights with people bigger than you. Or 'things', I guess."

Loki didn't answer but before I could add anything else my earpiece buzzed to life.

"Camilla, where are you?" It was Agent Romanov.

I raised a hand to my ear. "I'm on the top floor of Stark Tower."

"Can you get to the balcony?"

I glanced to the side. Despite the scattered glass and otherwise mass destruction, the path way to the balcony was still intact.

"Yeah, I can. What do you need me to do?"

"Loki's scepter. The doctor said that we can use it as a safety to cut off the Tesseract. If we get it-"

"You can shut off the portal." I felt my heart jump. We could do it. We could end this. I turned my head back to the balcony, my eyes falling on the scepter, which lay amongst the rubble. "I'll do it. Be there soon as I can."

"Copy that." Agent Romanov's voice faded.

I pushed myself up off the ground and dashed out into the sun, snatching up the scepter and rushing back inside. But before I could make it even a few steps towards the elevator, something caught my ankle. Loki's hand.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, doing my best to yank out of his grasp.

"I'm sorry, darling," He said and although his voice was weak after the beating, his tone was hard and cold as ice. "But I can't let you do that."

I felt that white-hot anger race through me again. My fingertips buzzed and I was reminded of the insane feat that I had just performed minutes before.

"Well I'm sorry," I said, my voice matching his. "But you threatened my family, not to mention the lives of all of the people living in this city. So I really don't think it's your call anymore."

"How many more times do you intend to endanger your life before it is one too many. You're not invincible."

I knew what he said was true, but for once I couldn't let it bother me. Every word that Loki said was coated with honey. The way he spoke was meant to pull you in. But this time I really had a chance to do something. To help stop all of this chaos and possibly save lives. If I didn't do this, who knew what would happen? New York would be leveled and they would move on to every nearby city. Including my own. I had to do something. And apparently I could.

"I may not be invincible, but apparently I am more powerful than I thought. Would you care to finish explaining what happened a few minutes ago?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "My dear, I'm not sure you are ready to hear what I have to say."

"Fine," I ground out. "Then get the hell out of my way."

I swung the scepter down, hitting the ground right next to Loki's head hard enough to make him flinch. It was the second I needed. I yanked my foot away one more time and finally I felt Loki's fingers slip and I was free. I took off running and before he could even pull himself off the ground I was in the elevator with the doors closed.

I just stood there for a moment, remembering Jarvis's words. The elevator was broken. No doubt the computer system had been damaged in the fight and any energy that was left needed to be used to fuel Stark. But I had an idea.

My eyes dropped to my hands, which were still tingling at my sides. When Loki had made me angry, I threw him across the room with my mind. It was as if the anger inside of me turned to actual energy. But what if I could do the same thing, except I focused the energy downward? Would it be the same as a giant push? One big enough to move the elevator?

I knew it was a long shot but we were only one floor away from the roof so if I got enough energy it might be just what I needed. I groaned and tilted my head back. I was insane. This was insane. But I had to try it.

"Alright." I said softly. "Here we go."

I extended my arm towards the floor, palms down, and waited.

Nothing happened.

I tried again.

Still nothing.

"What the heck?" I said softly. That should have worked. It was exactly what I had done before. What was missing?

_Anger._ The answer came to me almost instantly and I was surprised I hadn't realized it sooner. When I had first used that energy, it was after Loki had threatened my entire family. There were few things that could make me angry as that. But I bet I could think of a few examples. So I closed my eyes and focused.

I thought of what Loki had done, how he had kidnapped me, manipulated me with what he did and said, used magic on me, kept me from my family…. The list went on and on. So I took all of those memories and I pushed them into a ball, molding and squeezing them until I could feel it coiled like a lump of lead in my stomach. And finally I added the finishing touch to it. I thought about my mother. How she had left; abandoned us without so much as a goodbye. All of the years that I had waited for her to come back for nothing.

"Damn it!" I threw my hands downward and gasped as the elevator jolted and I was thrown back against the wall.

OoooooooO

The elevator moved a lot faster than I had anticipated, slamming to a halt as it finally made it to the roof. I groaned and pulled myself off the floor. Well, I wouldn't be trying that again anytime soon. I hadn't realized how much anger I had put behind that throw until it was a little too late. I was surprised that I hadn't gone straight through the roof and down onto the street.

The doors slid open and immediately Agent Romanov jumped to her feet.

"Camilla. Do you have it?"

I nodded and held out the scepter, my hands still shaking from everything that had happened in the past ten minutes.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she took the scepter from me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken." I glanced at Dr. Selvig who lay on the ground. He had a giant gash across his forehead but thank god the blue glow was finally gone from his eyes. "Are you two alright?"

"We will be. Soon enough."

"The spell is broken." I said and she nodded.

"How did-" I started to say but then it hit me. "The blast. When Iron Man tried to destroy the Tesseract…" I turned to Dr. Selvig, "It literally knocked it out of you."

He nodded. "The same way Agent Romanov knocked it out of Barton."

"So, what, you're saying we have to hit every hypnotized S.H.I.E.L.D agent over the head with a blunt object?"

Dr. Selvig shook his head. "Not if we can power down the Tesseract. If we shut off the power source then the men should return to normal.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Agent Romanov turned back to the machine, her feet spread to brace herself.

Dr. Selvig pointed at the Tesseract. "Right there on the crown."

She nodded before extending the staff forward. The second it touched the force field sparks started shooting off and she grit her teeth, pushing as hard as she could to break through.

"I can close it," she said, her voice echoing in my earpiece, "can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" Steve's voice came through but almost as soon as he had said the words I heard Stark.

"No, wait"

"Stark these things are still coming." I glanced back up at the sky where the portal sat wide open.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute." He paused. "And I know just where to put it."

"What?" I gasped. "No."

"Stark," Steve's voice was grim, "you know that's a one way trip."

"Save the rest for the turn J."

I could hear Tony giving Jarvis directions and I shook my head even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"No. No don't do this. Tony you know what's going to happen. Just stop, we can figure out another way."

Even through my earpiece I could hear him chuckle. "Thanks for the concern, red. But someone has to fix this. Don't worry about me, I'm not hero anyway."

There was a gust of wind and I turned my head to see Stark shoot past us, the missile on his back.

"No!" I shouted. I sprinted to the edge of the room but there was nothing I could do. He passed into the portal and was gone.

**We're getting closer and closer to the end! I already have an idea for not only a sequel, but also a spin off Captain America/OC story. Please be patient with me, between school and computer issues (my laptop wont let me post stories so I have to go to other computers around campus) it may take a little while but I will keep writing. I just had to say thank you so much for everyone that continues to read my story and comment. When I first started writing this I didn't think that I would even continue and now I have been working on it for almost a year. Please keep commenting and let me know what you think. Every time I get a new email it honestly makes my day **


	33. Chapter 31

**So guess who is finally done with school? It took FOREVER but I just had my last final yesterday and I am home free **** I am officially half way done with college. And that means I will have more time to write this summer. We are getting close to the end! This is the second to last chapter of this story. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with this story! I am so grateful to each and every one of you.**

I stared at the sky, my mouth open with terror.

"No!" I repeated, turning my desperate gaze to Agent Romanov and Dr. Selvig. "We have to help him! We have to get him back!"

Agent Romanov shook her head sadly. "There's nothing we can do."

"What do you mean there's nothing we can do? So we can fight and defend this entire city but we can't even save one of our own? Of course there's something we can do!"

I turned my eyes to Dr. Selvig but even he didn't say anything. My earpiece crackled to life and Steve's voice came through the other end.

"Close it."

Agent Romanov pressed her lips together and then nodded once, before pushing the staff forward and through the Tesseract's barrier.

"No!" I shouted again. I lunged forward but Dr. Selvig grabbed me before I could reach her.

"I'm sorry." He said, holding me as I struggled. "I'm so sorry. But we have to do this."

"He won't be able to get out if you close the portal!"

"I know." Agent Romanov said softly. "But Dr. Selvig is right. We have to do this. Stark would have wanted us to end this."

I shook my head and for the first time through this whole ordeal I felt tears drip down my cheeks. We couldn't let him die like that, swallowed up by that abyss. He had taken that missile to save us all, why couldn't we return the favor? More people weren't going to die from this. Too many had died already.

The second the scepter touched the Tesseract, the blue beam that had been connected to the portal shot back up into the sky. I tilted my head back up to look at the portal, which was now pulling closed, the sound of thunder crackling as it did. I blinked and for a moment through my tears, something shiny caught my eye.

"Stark?" I gasped and the other two looked up.

"Come on, Stark." Agent Romanov said softly and a second later I was sure of it. That sparkle out of the corner of my eye was Stark, he was falling from the sky.

"He's alive." I gasped.

Agent Romanov shook her head. "But he's not conscious. If he hits the ground at that speed it will kill him."

I struggled out of Dr. Selvig's arms and ran over to the side of the building, leaning over to look down at the group of heroes below. "Come on guys." I said, "Do something!"

Everything was silent for a moment, and then there was a bright green flash. Banner appeared out of nowhere and snatched Stark right out of the sky, clinging on to buildings as they slid safely to the ground and I gasped, letting out a breath that I hadn't been aware that I was holding.

"Steve," I said, putting a hand to my ear, "is he okay?"

"He's not moving."

I bit my lip. "Come on, Stark." I whispered, repeating what Agent Romanov had said. "Come back."

The silence seemed endless and then it was broken by the loudest roar I had ever heard. The Hulk.

Even from that height I could see Tony jerk and a second later Steve confirmed it.

"He's alright."

I gasped and dropped to the ground, my back against the side of the building. I felt all of the energy drain from my body as I sighed. It was over.

"We won." I said.

"But we're not done yet."

I raised my head to ask what Agent Romanov meant when I suddenly remembered. _Right. _There was still one more minor detail to deal with.

"Oh, don't worry." I said. "I've got that."

OoooooooooO

Stark's main room was still littered with glass as I made my way off the elevators. The chaos of the last few hours was evident but the silence told the real story: it was over. Loki lay on the ground next to the stairs, almost exactly where I had left him.

"I can see you've been busy in the last hour." I said dryly. My voice dripped my sarcasm and I was happy for once to have the upper hand.

"As have you." Loki replied. "I see you have managed to defeat my army."

"Good observation." I made my way over to the top of the stairs and stood, feet apart and arms crossed defensively. "Game's over, Loki."

"But it would not be a very fun game if it ended so quickly, now would it?"

"Ended so quickly?" I stared at him like he was insane. "You practically destroyed an entire city. You have kept us chasing after you for _days_. That's not my definition of quickly. And will you shut up with all your riddles and mind games? I am so done with you."

Loki smiled. "Now that is something that I don't believe."

I bit my lip, part from embarrassment and part from frustration. "You're really starting to piss me off."

"As if I did not anger you earlier?" he asked, turning so he could lean back against the stairs.

Well that was true.

"The Avengers are coming." I said, moving a few steps to the side so I could see his face.

"I am aware." He said, his eyes fixed straight ahead, looking out the window. "But that still leaves the question of why you are here." He turned his gaze to me and I dropped my eyes.

"I wanted to be here first. To see what they would do to you."

"No." He shook his head. "I know you well by now, Camilla. You wish to talk. The question is, what about?"

For a moment I thought about denying it, but I knew it was no use. "My mom." I said and even though my voice was hard I felt my heart squeeze at the words. "What do you know about her?" The thought that Loki would possibly know anything about my mother would have seemed ridiculous a few days ago but after hearing what he had said, I wasn't so sure anymore. If he had any information at all, I had to find out. I may have been angry with my mom for everything she had done to us, but I had to know what happened to her. "She didn't just disappear, did she?"

"Things do not simply disappear." He replied smoothly. "There is always an answer."

"Then give me it."

"My dear, are you sure you wish to hear this?"

"Stop!" I snapped and my hand dropped angrily to my sides. "Just stop. I'm done with these games. Don't treat me like a child."

"My dear, you are far from a child."

"I'm well aware." I said through my teeth.

"Very well. If you wish to hear the truth then I will not deny you. Your mother is alive, but she is not here. Not on this planet. And not in this realm."

"What?" I gasped. "What do you mean, not in this-" But I couldn't even get the words out before there was the sound of a bell. Loki and I both turned to see the elevator door slide open to reveal four Avengers. Agent Romanov, Stark, Steve, Hawkeye all stepped into the room, dusk and cuts covering their bodies. They looked every bit like they had been through battle.

"Camilla." Steve's eyes found me right away. "Are you alright?" He glanced at Loki for only a moment, his eyes darkening, before his eyes swept me up and down, checking for damage.

"I'm fine." I said.

There was a sharp crash on the balcony and I gasped, wheeling around to find Thor and the Hulk entering the room. The whole gang was here.

"It's over, Loki." Stark said, staggering forward. He looked beat up but I hardly noticed. I was so glad that he was alive.

"That it is." Loki said softly. He went to push himself up and winced. "Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Leave it to Loki to joke until the very end.

None of the Avengers looked amused. They all gathered in front of him, weapons drawn and suddenly I felt myself smile.

"Don't worry guys," I said. "He isn't going anywhere. Are you?"

I looked down at Loki and he dipped his head slightly. "I suppose I do not have much of a choice."

I nodded and lifted my eyes back to the heroes. They looked so tired, but I could see the same anger and determination in all of their eyes.

"It's over." I said softly.

It was finally over.


	34. Epilogue

**Last chapter! :o Don't worry, there will be a sequel. Thank you so much to everyone for reading this story!**

Everything was quiet. More peaceful than I would have imagined for a moment like this.

I stood on the edge of Central Park with all of the Avengers. It had been a week since everything had happened and things were starting to return to normal. Or as normal as things could get. I had finally been able to contact my family, who had been worried sick after not hearing from me in over a week. Luckily I didn't have to break the news about Uncle Phil, S.H.I.E.L.D had done that, but it didn't make the pain any easier.

I hadn't left New York. I told my parents that I had some things I had to finish and begged Fury to getting me a hotel room so I could stay. I slept but for once there were no dreams of Loki or the Chitauri. Everything seemed to be over.

I stood in between Steve and Hawkeye, the later of which was still eyeing Loki like he would like to shoot him. The god was chained, manacles wrapped around his hands and a muzzle covering his mouth. Thor had explained to me that since Loki was a master of magic, the mouthpiece helped to ensure that he wouldn't be able to pull any tricks. I thought about the kiss he had used to enchant me days before and shivered. That man was full of tricks. He was like a magician; the closer you looked the less you seemed to know.

Dr. Selvig pulled out a long glass case from his van and Dr. Banner- now completely human, thank goodness- placed the Tesseract inside of it. The Tesseract would return to Asgard with Thor and Loki. Earth was no place for a magic power source like that. Not yet.

I felt eyes on me and lifted my gaze to Loki. Although it had not been that long his wounds were already beginning to heal and his eyes were back to that bright, mischievous green. I dropped my eyes back to the ground, reluctant to look at him. When I had told everyone that I needed a week to work things out, I hadn't meant about the battle. Although I didn't dream about the war or Loki, the god haunted my every waking hour. Between the way he had kissed me and what he said about my mom, my emotions were enough to drive me mad. I didn't know what to think anymore. I needed more answers but I had no idea how to get them.

Thor turned to his brother, extending the case so that the god could grab the other end. This was it, their way home. I felt my heart tug. No. It was too soon. I still had so many questions and not nearly enough answers. I could feel a plan beginning to form in my head and I knew that what I was about to do would get me in a hell of a lot of trouble. But I didn't care.

I took a step forward and beside me, Steve stiffened.

"Camilla, what are you doing?"

I turned to him and the second our eyes met I knew that he already had the answer to his question.

"I'm sorry." I said. Then I turned and was running.

Thor turned a switch on the case and the two gods started to disintegrate in a beam of bright blue light. In a second they would be gone. But not before I could reach them.

I bolted forward, ignoring the shouts of all of the people around me as they slowly realized what I was about to do.

"Camilla!"

"Red! Don't!"

"Stop!"

But I ignored them all. I had to do this. So I reached out, took a hold of Loki's wrist as hard as I could and closed my eyes as everything around us disappeared.

**Keep an eye out for the sequel "Redemption" and thank you so much to everyone for reading! **


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